Oct 1, 2017 By Gina Watts 5 min read

I think I’ve written this article at least 10 times in my head. So much has happened in the world, in my world over the last two weeks, I’m not quite sure where to begin. We’ve got folks kneeling, standing, and locking arms. Others are in protest of the protestors and disowning folks that they never even knew. I’m not quite sure how you disown folks who are paid to entertain you, but cheer them on even when they’ve sinned against their wives, broke numerous laws, abused a variety of drugs, committed a lengthy list of felonies including murder, and disgraced their teams and families. Oh. Is it too soon? Nah. I understand. Its too real.

I’m confused.

We’ve got 3.5 million people in Puerto Rico without electricity, running water, food, and basic life essentials. And while they suffer, we’ve got more than enough folks cursing leaders and complaining about the lack of action. Not that the leaders don’t deserve it; but what are you doing, Mr. and Mrs. Keyboard Strong No-Action Taking Pawn? What are you doing to serve Puerto Rico? What are you doing to serve your next door neighbor? What are you doing?

I’m confused.

We’ve got a foreign dictator threatening to nuke us and no feelings of security to calm us. I wonder if we can be calm in this state, the state of this world. Can we find peace in a time where chaos seems to always be present, fears seem to always guide us, and hope seems to be so far away?

I’m confused.

We’ve got more churches than we can count in America, yet more than 80% of Americans would rather enjoy their Sunday Fundays instead of worshipping God and serving together. It would seem that in a time of despair and hopelessness, we would seek to be in the presence of the most high. I mean He didn’t cause this…we did.

I’m confused or am I?

Nope. I’m not confused. I know the truth. I know that even in the midst of chaos, even in the face of fear, and even when we feel hopeless, God is still here. His kingdom has come and it came in the form of Jesus Christ. He, being God in the form of man, gave us instructions to care for one another, love one another, show mercy to one another, be just to one another, and honor one another just as He did. When we choose not to do those things, we end up where we are right now, today. We did this.

It is clear now.

So instead of sitting down with our brother or sister who thinks differently from us, we delete them from our friends list and we speak ill of them. We use our keyboard strength to communicate our anger, yet we do nothing to find resolve, show mercy, be just, or give love. No. We’d rather delete them from social media. Its almost as good as deleting them from this earth.

It is getting even clearer now.

We watch the news and read 140 characters to get our news everyday. We use what we read or what we watch in a short video clip to guide how we see people (especially people we don’t know). We then use that information as the basis for our social media rants. We like to be uninformed, unattached, insecure, and undeniably right about everything in our own mind. We simply can’t make time to listen to two sides of an argument or pray for discernment. God forbid we read a book or pick up a newspaper (although — thank you for doing so right now). We would rather talk about what little we know about than to get more information to go do something about the little we know. Talkers talk. Walkers walk. Doers do. Who is in your crew?

Its so clear now.

Friends, I know that this article seems to have quite a condemning tone. My intention is to wake us up, wake us all the way up. We can have peace in this time of chaos. We can have joy in the midst of deep sorrow. We can find hope in the promises of tomorrow. And do you know where the search for all of that begins? It begins by looking in the mirror. You. Us. We. We can be the peace in the time of chaos. We can be the joy in the midst of deep sorrow. We can be the hope for the tomorrow. We have the key to the pain of this world. Will you join me and use the key to release peace, joy, hope and love? Read Matthew 10:7-15.

Gina Watts is a former resident of Fayette County, now living in Columbus, Ohio. She serves multiple communities as an advocate, educator, and leader. Follow Gina on Twitter @professorgmarie.