Time flies when you are having fun. It seems like the week just began and yet we are into Friday night. The weekend crashes in upon us. Even more amazing is how I spent the afternoon. While many across the country deal with freezing temperatures and snow we have trees budding. My afternoon consisted mostly of mowing leaves, weeds, and clover. I like to think of it as aerobic mowing. Mowing is not only good exercise but it allows me time to think. Sometimes that can be bad if there is too much on my mind. Most of the time it is a good thing as my mind works on issues that hover about.

Yesterday was a long post on civility. It was written while in a mood that seemed heavy. They are words flavored with sadness over the lost of civility in our society. The sadness remains to some degree. Is civility on the way out or is it already gone? It's my view alone that for the most part it is a thing of the past. My experience says that conflict in our world grows and does not lessen. People carry around the baggage of bad feelings towards people in their life. Churches seem perpetually on edge waiting for the next explosion of anger or accusation. You would be stunned if I gave you a list of websites where churches are in open battle within the membership. These would not be the small country churches that tend to get a bad rap. Many of the leading churches of my denomination are taking their squabbles public. No doubt the owners of the websites mean well but is it worth it to take venom into the public domain?

You hear the word bipartisan a lot to describe the working of our government. Make no mistake about this. Bipartisanship is dead. It sure is a nice word to toss about but the nature of politics today leaves no room for it. When one party holds all the votes needed to pass a bill then there is no need to work together. This is the very nature of being a democratic republic. To the winners go the spoils. Sure you will hear leaders cast this phrase into their speeches but we live in a country that is increasingly divided. Just today a former President is being criticized for sharing his opinion in public. A congressman used the word "racist" to describe Southern Governors who have reservations about the recent stimulus package. Spend an afternoon or evening watching various news channels to measure how cooperation lost out to competition.

Optimism is hard to come by when it comes to civility. Christians say things that damage friendships without any guilt over their actions. We choose up sides much like we once did on the school playground when it was time to play "Red Rover." We have young versus old. We have conservative versus moderate. We have male versus female. We get in our groups and talk about the failures of others so we can call our self a success. Those who enjoy the traditional hyms can be labeled as old fashioned. Those who enjoy newer songs with differing instruments are too radical.

The point is not to beat the old horse to death here. The point of all this is to get us to look at our behavior. Do we contribute to the problem or the solution? Unity cannot be voted on to settle the matter. You cannot just get rid of everyone who disagrees with your position. Real maturity includes accepting the failings of others who are still growing. It knows when to keep quiet as well as when to take a stand. Real discipleship models the lifestyle of the One we follow. He gave His life to bring about peace between us and God. He didn't offer an opinion alone on what is wrong with us. He did not just isolate Himself from those who lived an impure life. He said that He loves us. Then He went out and showed us what real love costs. It is much easier to be "right" than to love. But where is that getting us today?

Bro. Trey