Thursday, May 11, 2006

Quote of the day: "As an antidote to the screechy hatefulness, I recommend Christian love. While our fallen nature makes all of us, whether on the Left or the Right, prone to hating our enemies, we Christians know that Christ calls us to a higher standard."

Stephen L. Carter's words, quoted above, come from his article in Christianity Today, which I access via a daily feed.

"Screechy hatefulness" is not only unattractive, but unChristian, and my main task while renewing my Christian walk has been to defeat the impulse to hatefulness, a violent wellspring that bubbles evilly up in hearts, including mine. After four years of work on this, with great help from grace, the struggle gets easier, though I still wrestle daily. Oddly enough, it helps me to see examples of hate, disrespect and other ills, because then I'm reminded of just how ugly this habit is. In an article I was reading yesterday, all was well until my eye hit a line about idolizing diversity in our culture. My inner ear heard the wrong note, and I paused to consider why that line felt so wrong. Was it because of the subtle dig against people who are different (whatever that may mean)? was it because of the barb of utter dislike pricking out between the words? was it the sheer hyperbole? because diversity isn't privileged, and often doesn't exist? was it the leakage of bitterness, against diversity or whatever the author felt it stood for? Yes, in the culture in which we live, errors have been made in the name of "diversity" and "political correctness" and some screechy hatefulness emits from proponents of those two.

We have to ask ourselves what we'd like to emit. I have to ask myself what my motives are. And then I turn to those glowing witnesses and read them, to steep myself in the spirit I want to learn from. In addition to the scriptures, I find authors like Carter, bloggers like Glenn Lucke, and past masters like C. S. Lewis to be very strengthening. I really appreciate them.

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