I wonder a lot these days. Perhaps it’s because I’ve taken some time to slow down and notice. Has it always been this way? Or, did I somehow let indifference increase my blind spots until blind was all I’d become?

I wonder how we have let our opinions become absolute truths, easily dismissing anyone with a different thought or take on a topic. We are so polarized, so completely left or right that stepping into the middle seems too large a chasm to forge. We use labels as weapons, speaking them as something vile and completely beneath any good reasoning person.

I wonder at the frequency to which we use the sacred and holy scriptures to justify behaviors that alienate, separate, abuse and oppress others. I listen, horrified and shocked, as Romans 13 is being (mis)used, (recently, now), to support the tearing apart of children from parents at our very own borders, here in the USA. Surely, this cannot be the good judgement and values our country claims to stand upon. We can do better. Nay, we must do better.

I wonder at how intertwined we have allowed faith and politics to become. The church seems to be expecting the government to do the church’s job. Have we become slaves to the flag and disciples of patriotism, forgetting that this world is not our eternal home?

I wonder at the great importance we put on overseas missions while avoiding certain parts of own towns, the parts we deem bad and unsafe. Have we forgotten our neighbors living in our own communities? Are we more concerned with filling our social media with pictures of people from other countries, with different skin tones at the dire neglect of the ones we pass every day? Overseas work is important, but should never be elevated at the expense of the week that needs to be done within our own borders.

I watch and wonder.

And, I wonder about my place in all of this. How do I model love and compassion, care and concern through all of this mess? The bigness of the issues and problems can often overwhelm and temp me to inaction. But I will continue to learn and grow and watch closely for my place, my moment to turn all of this wondering into action.