What Can We Do?

A few days ago, I overhead my husband, Ben, on a zoom call joking with some of his students saying “Maybe I should immigrate to Australia?” Not a half bad idea, I thought, given the events of this week. I have family there, so it would be a perfect spot!

But, the fact is, we can’t go to Australia and we need to stay here. But, how do we live life here amidst the atrocities that took place in the Capitol?

I believe that God has given each one of us an opportunity to thrive in our country, right here, right now. We may not think we can make a dent of a difference, but the truth of the matter is, we can! In our own little cranny of life, we can make an impact that can change lives!

Make Prayer a Priority- On the day of the riots, I heard about a national prayer zoom call responding to the situation. It was already in progress, but I tried to jump on. There were already 1000 people on the call, so I got bumped out. Imagine having TOO MANY people praying! Now, what would it be like if we all gathered with a few of our friends/family and began to pray for our country? As my pastor said “It’s not time to be battling with our thumbs, but battling on our knees.” (Pastor Ed Newton)

Overcome evil with good- Romans 12:21 says “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” We have a tendency to have a gut reaction in the moment. Someone’s mean on social media. We’re mean back. I challenge you to be different. Your words matter. How you treat people matter. How you respond to the events of this past week matter.

Outdo one another in love- Romans 12:10 says “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Outdo yourselves in honoring one another.” Can you imagine outdoing one another in honoring and loving others? How would your words, actions and responses change? Paul, the writer of Romans, was challenging his readers to do something they couldn’t do on their own. They needed Christ in them to love this way! So many people are hurting. But, you can make a difference. Find people to speak life and encouragement into. Think of others as more important than yourself. Listen well. Ask good questions. Care. Don’t give up on people different than you. Accept all people as we’re all created in the image of God. So many people need your love today.

 Nancy Abbott is the Chaplain of the YMCA of Greater San Antonio.