Civility

It seems that civility has become a lost art in our society. The concept of civilization rests on the notions of mutual repect, appreciation and courtesy. I was taught in school that my freedoms stop when they begin to impinge on someone else's freedom. There was an assumption in that teaching that I would be self-limiting in my freedoms out of respect for the next guy or girl. Now, it seems, that it works almost the opposite. Each person pushes his or her freedom until someone else pushes back hard and limits it. We experience this "Make way, I'm coming through attitude," daily in traffic jams, check out lines, and school hallways.

Over the next 9 weeks I will be preaching on the nature of our spiritual life by reflecting on the bibical concept of the "fruit of the Spirit" and contrasting it with our current lives of quiet, personal desperation and resulting coercive attitudes and actions. We need our hearts changed. We need to experience love, joy, peace, patience, kindess, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Maybe then church and society will become more civilized and our hearts will be a bit more reflective of the Savior we claim to follow.