WHEN DISAPPOINTMENT DRIVES OUR DOCTRINE ACCUSATION TAKES CONTROL.

When I was seventeen years old I was driving past a house we had lived in the year before. The neighbor was outside so I waved as I drove by. The next thing I knew I was waking up from unconsciousness with blood all over me. A car had backed out of a driveway and I never saw it. This was before the days of seatbelt laws and my absence of judgment had left me unbuckled. The impact threw me forward crushing the rear view mirror with my face lacerating my eyebrow and cheek area, which would require hours on a table removing shards of glass concluding with an abundance of stitches.

This experience was branded deeply into my emotions and thoughts. For the next year any time I heard screeching tires or the impact of an accident I became short of breath and almost emotionally distraught for a moment. If we’re not careful we rehearse the mistakes we’ve made or the mistakes others have made that have impacted us and our reactions become so strong they overpower our ability to respond. Religious confusion abounds when the ability to love is hindered. Our ability to forgive ourselves is directly connected to our ability to forgive others. Our ability to forgive others in our past is directly tied to our ability to forgive others in our future.

If we aren’t careful we can allow our own attitudes to rob us of God’s perspective. When we nurse hurt we grow poison. It’s entirely possible to wake up one day, surrounded by people we’ve infected with complaints rather than those we’ve inspired with our love.

Don’t just tell us what you’re against. Show us what you’re about. Help us re-imagine a better future!