9/11 brought out the best in Americans. We had each other’s backs. 22 years later, we are at each other’s throats.
So, what happened? Fear happened: it’s hard to care about others when you are terrified for yourself. But since fear saps strength, it turns to that powerful emotion, anger. Then anger demands to be justified, so hate is born. It’s all downhill from there.
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“Love your neighbor, hate your enemy?” But now, the one we call “enemy” is our neighbor, and, if sharing our faith, is in fact a brother or sister in Christ. Family.
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Lincoln was quoting Jesus: If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. Mark 3:24-25 NIV
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Okay, I know I’m preaching to the choir, but the choir hears the message, too. Our country is dividing to the point of shatter. It’s time for Christ followers to remember what He said:
So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other.
Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.
Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
John 13:34-35 NLT
He never said it would be easy. But He clearly believes that we can do it in Him and for Him.
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Summing it all up, friends,
I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true,
noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst;
the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.
Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized.
Do that, and God, who makes everything work together,
will work you into his most excellent harmonies.
Philippians 4:8-9 The Message
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Because America will face trouble again. We live in a broken world. But we have a choice in how we live.
“If we learn nothing else from this tragedy,
we learn that life is short and there is no time for hate.”
Sandy Dahl, wife of Flight 93 pilot Jason Dahl.
