“I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.” John 1:23

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For days, months, I have prayed for our country, prayed for our leaders, prayed to understand what has happened to our country. This morning, after waking early with these thoughts on my mind, I picked up my devotions.

My first reading: “…even now there are become many Antichrists: whereby we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would no doubt have remained with us; but that they may be manifest that they are not all of us.” 1 John2: 19-19.

 I can’t stand by in silence and allow evil to run unchecked. But what can I do? Take to the streets with protestors shouting, screaming, perpetuating violence? That is becoming part of the very culture I am standing against.

God confirmed this in my next reading. “If any man say, I love God, and hate his brother; he is a liar. For he that loves not his brother, whom he sees, how can he love God, whom he sees not? And this commandment we have from God, that he, who loves God, love also his brother.” 1 John 4: 20-21

My next reading emphasized this further. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” Matthew 5:9.

How then do I speak out against evil and still love my brother?

God’s answer: “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.” John 1:23

I am to be like John the Baptist, pointing out evil as John did with King Herod, protesting unfair laws in peaceful civil disobedience, as did Gandhi. Speaking against wrong without resorting to hateful speech or violence. I must also “…forgive as you have been forgiven.” 

Will my efforts matter? God uses the insignificant, the marginalized, the lowly. St. John wasn’t an influential or powerful man in the eyes of the world, neither was Gandhi, but both men helped change their world. I can too. And so can you.

“Dear Lord, help me stand against evil without adding to the hatred and the violence. Heal my heart and mind of the desire for vengeance. Amen.”