From the Study

Dear Friends,

       There was a dear sweet lady whose name was Lib in the congregation of the church I served before coming to Providence. She was the wife of a retired farmer and the matriarch of her rather large family. In her early years she was a school teacher in the small public school the county maintained for the few children in the area and many of her former students were now adults with children of their own. Miss Lib loved both children and teaching and many of the community’s children would come to her for extra help in their harder subjects. She also had many pearls of wisdom for the children to help them negotiate the bumpy roads of life, one of which she would bring out when there was a spat between them. She would put a thimble on her finger and tap the combatants on the head while she said, “You’ve got to learn to disagree without being disagreeable.”

Election season quickly approaches. It seems that no sooner do we put one election season astern than another begins looming large ahead. It is very unpleasant to me to listen to politicians fight in public, like many of them do when they either want to keep their job or take somebody else’s away from them. And, sadly, it seems that as much of the voting public gets pulled into the fight cheering their favorite on, we begin turning against each other. Solid relationships have suffered from political disagreements.

Happily, it doesn’t have to be that way. We can participate in the process without becoming a part of the argument. Romans 12:9-21 is always worth a read and maybe particularly in a season like this. Paul is talking about love and at the 18th verse he offers the key to dialing the invective down. He says, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” We can do that, and maybe angry public office seekers will follow our lead. I think Miss Lib needs to put her thimble on her finger and tap us all on our heads and say, “You’ve got to learn how to disagree without being disagreeable.”

Grace and peace,

Mike

Grace and peace,

Mike