The battle of good versus evil has been nonstop since Lucifer was ejected from heaven.
The battle will not be over until God says it’s time so until then it is a force we have to reckon with.
We all have this fight and there is no going around it. We have it with ourselves, our families, our communities, our jobs and so on.
It never fails you can have a great day and suddenly out of the blue, bam! Your day is ruined. A constant battle of good versus evil.
For a few moments I am going to take this to the county level. Over the past few months there has been a stirring in the air. People seem to have more pride in Marion County and Columbia. Since Christmastime pictures of all of the great events which have been happening have been posted and shared over and over on social media. Suddenly people are seeing our county and city in a totally different light. Obviously that’s good.
Then there’s the bad. Since the first of the year there have been multiple shootings, some in the city and some in the county. Some have been killed but thankfully we have some survivors. Then there is the seemingly unending war with drugs. As much as I hate to admit it we have some evil here as well.
What do we do? Do we just give up and accept as some skeptics may say, things will never change? Throw in the towel and say it’s not worth it?
I believe we need to fight back. Yes evil happens but it doesn’t have to overshadow the positive. Instead of letting the darkness try to drown out the light, let the light overwhelm the darkness.
Now the big question, how do we go about this? We cannot ignore that evil happens’ It is real and scary, but so is love and goodness. Walking down the street do you walk with such a manner people would smile and say hello or ignore you? In the restaurant when you received a bad meal, do you pitch a fit and cause a big fuss or speak to the manager in a way that’s respectful while reporting your problem?
In this day of social media craze do you get all up in the drama someone is reporting or do you just skim over them or even unfollow so you do not have that influence? Do we lift each up or knock each other down? Is everything we say negative or positive?
Going even deeper, do we gossip about the person or pray for them? The last few rhetorical questions may not come close to the evil of murder and drugs however our attitude goes a long way in are we supporting good or evil. If you are being rude to someone, it allows evil a chance to breathe. You lift up someone, you are offering some light.
I have not always been good at lifting up people but in the last few years I’ve tried. I know there are times I have failed but I still keep trying. I have gotten to the point in my life that I want people to be happy to see me and not be trying to escape me.
But more importantly I want to see Marion County and Columbia thrive. Countless hours have been spent by numerous people to make our community shine brighter. I want people to say of Columbia and Marion County, isn’t that the place that has the awesome Christmas lights, isn’t that the place that has a great cruise-in the first of the month, isn’t that the place… for something good.
That can be the case if we chose to follow the good. Let’s be respectful with each other even in disagreements; let’s lift each other up. Let’s lift up our county and city. Let us fill this county up with so much light from the goodness that evil has no choice but to flee.
Susan Amundson is managing editor of The Columbian-Progress. She may be reached at (601) 736-2611 or samundson@columbianprogress.com.
