The Divided world of chaos

Dear Friends,

​I'll be honest when I say that it's been a long time since I've written to fellow members of congregations, students and shared a message on the world wide web. However, I like to think that each one of us can impact one another with words and the magnitude of our voices can be powerful in this dark and twisted world at times. Sometimes our voices divide one another but I also like to think that our voices can call to action, unite and hold us together.

​It's no secret that our world is becoming a darker place. It seems every day a new darkness sweeps in and we're left to sort through the chaos that comes with it. With said chaos, almost always come divisions. Divisions on gun control, abortion, presidential elections...the list goes on and on. The reality is very rarely do we all as humans or rather a nation see eye to eye on said topics. 

​A few months ago, my sister was at her high school and went on lockdown because of a potential threat that would be headed onto her campus. I remember hearing about the lockdown and instantly thinking, "this is it, a school shooting has made its way to Fresno." Thankfully the suspect was apprehended before he even step foot on campus and it is unknown what his intent was. But in that moment, those scary and overwhelming thoughts that filled my head, are likely the thoughts of millions of others in our nation and I'm not just talking about school shootings. The reality is we never think anything bad can happen to us, until it does.  We never know when darkness is going to invert itself in our lives and disrupt our safe zones.

I think we can all agree that shootings are an ongoing and increasingly rising problem in our nation. Unfortunately, we tend not to focus on the victims and the trauma they faced, but instead argue over gun control. To be upfront, I'm purposely not going to invert my views on gun control in this post. Instead I'd like to argue that the division of gun control, or rather any division in this world, constantly separates us from what matters most.

​It's evident our world is divided. There will always be opposing views, and very, very, rarely do we all agree in this world. Quite frankly there is always "black and white" thinking when really there is a whole lot of “grey” in this world. More often than not, we demand people to take a stand and "side" with us on our views. Now we typically find this in politics and usually expect that we find opposing view in politics but when it comes to divisions regardless of where we find them in the world, I ponder how Jesus would feel if he knew we were debating. While we’ll never known for certain where Jesus stands on all the divisions of our world, I'm positive he would give us a philosophical viewpoint that none of us were expecting. Jesus sought to preach ministry. Jesus walked with those that were minorities, he bridged gaps between opposing views, and he reminded us all what matters the most. Jesus sought to unite one another and close divisions, yet why do we still create such divisions among us?
 
My prayer for us is we uplift one another; we break down the walls that separate us and we remember what matters the most: to act justly, love mercifully and walk humbly with God.
-Micah 6:8

In Christ's Service,

​Autumn Scherf