Time to Shine

“A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” (Pr 17:17 AV)

Such an appropriate verse considering what we are all going through.  This time of difficulty will challenge the very core of who and what we are.  The verse above is a reminder we are blessed to have people.  My fear is we will begin to see one another as a threat rather than our fellow human beings who are in the same predicament as we are.  However, I have high hopes.  All one has to do is look at the response of our nation in such times as 9/11, Katrina, or any other natural or manmade disaster.  We seem to fall back on our roots.  We are first and foremost a Christian nation.  Whether the secular world wants to admit it or not, that is our history.  That is our foundation.  And it shows.  Just a few stories to encourage your heart.

I relayed the experience of last Friday when I was sent to the store to get the hottest commodity on the market – toilet paper.  What an experience.  There was no shoving, pushing, or the threatening of life and limb.  It was very civil.  We may point out the absurdity of a world going nuts over toilet paper, but let us look at another aspect.  The civility of a Christian nation.  There was a video posted recently of a pallet being unloaded by shoppers as a way of revealing our panic over toilet paper.  Point made.  But I saw another side.  I saw a group of people who were not fighting.  I saw a group of people who were handing to others a package of toilet paper.  There was no shoving.  No pushing.  A very neighborly way of distribution.  There was another example of such an attitude.  As I waited on my friend to finish his shopping, a man came up to me and shared that all this hoarding was unnecessary.  It was just he and his wife so he didn’t need to hoard TP.  Cooler heads, or should we say, Christianized heads, were prevailing.

As a believer and called man of God, I wish to encourage all to remember we are not isolated.  Even though the protocol is isolation, the human race is not.  We are fellow human beings who are going through this together and we need to help where we can.  We need to be a help and assistance to those who need it.  There shouldn’t be anyone in a high-risk group out and about fending for their own needs.  Those of us who can, should run some errands and do their shopping.  If we have more than enough for our own, we should consider sharing with those who have none.  There are many ways in which we can be a neighbor or a brother.  Now is the time for the world to see what makes America great.  It isn’t our prosperity.  It isn’t our politics.  What makes, and always have made, America great is our values and care one for another.