See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all. ~ I Thessalonians 5:15
It seems so simple, doesn't it?
Don't repay evil for evil.
Yet it is counter to how everything in our world works.
Everything from school yard taunts to mass incarceration to wars.
The world seems to work under the auspices of revenge and retribution.
What would it look like if it didn't?
If in the school yard, taunts were met by just walking away.
If the criminal justice system was based on redemption not retribution. If penitence in the penitentiary was really allowed to be a thing!
What if weapons weren't stockpiled by countries?
What if guns were not so easy to come by so that you didn't need to fear an argument ending in bloodshed?
Do not repay evil for evil.
Because, frankly, as long as we do - as long as weapons and violence and payback stay normative - there will be no peace.
Generous and gracious God, open the doors of our hearts to peace so that we can make a place at the table for those who are usually left out. Amen
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