Love Disrupts Hate
Light disrupts darkness
Truth disrupts lies
Peace disrupts violence
Unity disrupts separation
Inclusion disrupts exclusion
Integration disrupts Segregation
Justice disrupts injustice
Resurrection disrupts death
These disruptions are not met with ease and appreciation by the systems and people that create them (systems and attitudes governed by power, fear, division, etc.)
Change doesn’t happen by fighting the symptoms of the problem in the same manner as they are manifested. Change happens by disrupting it in the opposite manner.
A fire isn’t stopped by adding fuel. Arguments stop not when the last person has their say or outlasts the other, but when one of the persons chooses to seek understanding, listen, or create a boundary. If we want to change something and bring about a different consequence, we’ve got to do the opposite of “the thing.” Shouting loudly when others are shouting only works when we have the loudest voice. Try whispering instead.
Change happens first on the individual level. We can model bringing positive change in our homes, families, businesses, workplaces, and broader circle of relationships. We don’t have to wait for others to do it. We own our responses and attitudes. When this is connected together in common cause with others, it can bring significant change in communities. Darkness can’t stand against light. Light drives out darkness. The brighter the light, The less the darkness. The more lights strung together, the bigger the impact.
Jesus, the God-Human, who bodily resurrected from the grave embodies all those qualities of change and more. I’m not talking about the versions of Jesus that are manipulated in the wrong way for personal gain. I’m talking about the real, authentic, middle eastern, Jewish carpenter, Jesus, the Son of God who is the way, truth and life. Light in the darkness. Healing in pain. Resurrection instead of death. Love instead of hate. Disruptive to a world set in it’s ways. A still soft voice. May those of us who are Christians, show it by our love.