Do Unto Others

We began this week hearing about the woman at the Phillies game who demanded that a father and son hand over their foul ball. On Wednesday, Charlie Kirk was assassinated while sharing his views on current issues. Not long ago, a woman was stabbed on a metro train in Charlotte while those nearby stood by and did nothing. From the shooting at Annunciation Church in Minneapolis to wars and violence across the globe, it is painfully clear that we live in a broken world.

So how do we cope with all this negativity and brokenness? We do our part to put the pieces back together. Everything we say and do either deepens division or builds unity. People can continue tearing down the woman from the Phillies game and destroying her reputation, or they can let it go and allow healing to begin.

We need to recognize when someone is hurting and take action. It is far too easy to stay on the sidelines and avoid risk. The woman in Charlotte died alone because no one stepped forward until it was too late. Even if a bystander could not have saved her, they could have sat with her and offered comfort in her final moments. How many people suffer silently every day with no one to listen? The shooter at Annunciation carried deep pain and inner struggles. If just one person had been there to listen, the tragedy might have been prevented.

We are a diverse people with many opinions. Diversity is good, but we will always encounter views that anger us. Even then, we must remember that our enemies are also children of God, not devils. I love a good debate, especially when people with opposing views remain civil and shake hands afterward. Jesus reminds us that loving those who love us is easy, but loving those who hate us is far more difficult.

I want to see justice served, but I also pray for the conversion of those who commit evil. Praying for victims and their families comes naturally, but praying for those who do wrong requires greater effort—and yet they need our prayers just as much. We should never celebrate when a sinner loses eternal life. We should mourn for them.

Before we act, we should ask whether what we are about to do will bring light and peace or darkness and division. We all fall short at times, but loving others as ourselves should remain our goal. If we chose a little less criticism and more love, the world would grow far more beautiful, and we would find ourselves closer to Heaven.