Tuesday; February 8

In our time together yesterday, we took a look at how we must understand that it isn’t enough to just stop doing evil, we must be willing to replace it with good. Cleaning house is a good first step, but unless we fill the void with something productive, we run the risk of becoming worse than we before. There are times when it is important to stop behaviors to move toward growth, but unless we follow-up with something appropriate, our old ways might return – and they might even be worse than before. Several years ago, communities followed the “broken windows philosophy” which advocated that we needed to get rid of the unsightly elements of our dilapidated areas. While this makes sense – people are less likely to commit crimes or acts of immorality in clean and kempt areas – there is a limited window of opportunity to do something positive with these areas or they will begin to resume deteriorating. Just as this is true in our physical structures, it is the same in our social areas. COVID-related cancellations served a purpose early on, but unless we find a way to restore a sense of community, the temptation to be self-serving begins to pull us away from others. There may be places where the justice system might need to be altered, but unless we replace what we dismantle with something better, injustice or anarchy is apt to follow. There was a need to re-evaluate our school systems in light of what has been going on, but unless we fill that void with quality education our students’ grades and behavior are bound to suffer.

Let’s not be happy to merely dismantle those things that need to be changed, let’s make sure we rebuild them better than they were before. This is where true atrophy ends and growth begins.

Think About It!

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