Dear Circle of Hope,

The past few weeks have been a disturbing time for many people in our country and around the world. Unfortunately, one of the noticeable responses has been that people have become more fractured and divided, leading to a greater disunity in our society and communities.

One of the difficult and tricky things to navigate is the outspoken people of faith that exist in the different groups that are emerging, that tend to position themselves at opposite ends of a spectrum. My understanding of my faith and spirituality is that love is my greatest calling. I struggle to see love, compassion, kindness and empathy present in much of the discussions that I have witnessed in this time. I have sought to live out my life and faith in a manner that chooses love as a foundational centre. I have also held to the understanding that this would be evidenced in my life for others to experience. I want my life to bear fruit of this centre of love.

There is a beautiful passage in the New Testament of the Bible that talks about lives that evidence the fruit of the Spirit. This fruit is described as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These are the attributes I hope to bear in my life as I am led by the Spirit. I challenge anyone endeavouring to engage in the discourse around the events of the last few weeks, especially people who align themselves with the Christian faith and the teachings of Jesus, to reflect on their contributions and whether their offerings in this time have evidenced these attributes. Sadly, I feel they have been lacking in public discourse and could add much to the current situation.

My witnessing in this time leads me to believe that we need to do better in the way we speak to one another, the way we comment on social media, the posts that we repost as our ‘truth.’ We need to engage in the above list of attributes and ask ourselves whether our words and actions reflect such things. Or on the other hand, whether they might lead to further disunity and fracture.

May our words and actions evidence the fruit of the Divine Spirit and be filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These are the attributes that will bring unity, hope and peace to our world. They are the characteristics of life in its fullness.

Let’s seek to make this world a better place by choosing love as our centre and by allowing this to bear such fruit in our lives.

Thank you for being part of our Circle of Hope.

Grace and peace,

Phil