Let’s agree to make 2020 a year of change

Sad days were recorded as 2019 fades into our collective memories.

No, I’m not referring to the latest Vikings loss, nor am I referring to the poorest college officiating that stole a win from Ohio State over undefeated Clemson.

I am referring to the hatred that seems to be targeting Jews and Christians around the world.

New York’s machete attack on the seventh day of Hanukkah was a certain sign of a surging anti-Semitism in America. (It was the ninth anti-Semitic attack since Dec. 23, 2019.)

Hate showed up again a few days after the New York’s stabbings at a church in Texas, when a gunman opened fire on a congregant while the church was preparing for communion.

Within seconds of the murderer opening fire on an usher, armed members of the church’s security detail shot and killed the gunman. Others in the church were wounded, but thanks to quick thinking security the gunman’s damage to more churchgoers was limited.

Worldwide, there were beheadings of Christians by Isis in Nigeria, Africa.

The most recent anti-Semitic and Christian attacks are symptoms of the world’s hatred of the two religions rooted in Judaism.

Why now?  How does this ramping up of hate impact residents of Dodge County?

Well, perhaps it is rooted in humanity’s move away from the God of Israel, or the secularization of society.

Whatever the cause, it has a whole lot more to do with the condition of our heart toward our fellow man. We seem to be less patient, less loving toward ones we don’t even know. (Cut someone off at an intersection and experience hand gestures that are full of hate.)

Perhaps it’s time to return to the roots of America when it was a Christian nation.

Unless we, as individuals, accept one another the decline of our nation, not to mention the civilized world, will continue on its current trajectory.

Let’s all agree to make 2020 a year of change – year of accepting the shortcomings of our fellow man.

Kindness

Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.

Mark Twain