File

File

Minister’s Message: Overcoming evil with good

Do we as a society know how to deal with our emotions in healthy ways?

By Karen Martin Tichenor

Listening to the news about all the shootings across the country just last weekend, let alone all the violence, abuse and disrespect that is going on these days in our country and our community, I truly wonder, do we as a society know how to deal with our emotions in healthy ways?

In Romans 12:21 of our Bible, Paul says to the Roman community, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

To do that, to overcome evil with good, we need to be in control of our emotions not the other way around. But by reports it appears we have let our emotions be in charge.

Our behaviors say, ‘If I’m angry then I need to act it out on someone or some thing.” The bigger the anger, the bigger or more violent the act. But that is not the way of our God. It isn’t the better way.

The better way is to do what is good in the face of evil.

How do we do that?

For those of faith we pray to God for guidance, wisdom, courage and strength to do the right thing. For we believe there is One greater than ourselves that has power to save us even from ourselves.

In the courage of faith we are called to take a breath, get in touch with what we are upset about and why, reach out to God and then figure out what is an appropriate, wise response.

That may include finding a wise and trustworthy friend, counselor or spiritual leader to help process what we are feeling and help us work it through to a healthy response or resolve of the situation. It takes courage to do that work. And with God’s help we can do it. And without violence.

So when you hear someone say, “Love your neighbor,” we aren’t talking sentiment here, but a way of being.

Is that always easy to do? In truth, no.

Our neighbors are human like you and me. We all make mistakes. We aren’t perfect. Maybe we’re having a bad day and aren’t making good choices. We need good, loving neighbors to help us see what we are doing so we can take charge of ourselves once again and work toward the healing of our hearts, spirits and souls.

There is nothing sappy about Godly loving. It takes strength, courage and a creative spirit to love yourself as well as an other in all of our imperfections.

So, let’s slow down and do the hard work of identifying what we are feeling and why. Are we afraid, hurt, lonely, angry, depressed, rejected, hopeless, hopeful, at peace, curious, joyful? Why? What has happened that that is what you are feeling?

Take a breath, slow down, pray to God, talk it through with a trusted other, process it by writing in a journal. Trust that harming yourself or others is not the answer. So now, how can you find peace and make this a better world because of it?

Rev. Karen Martin Tichenor is pastor of Soldotna United Methodist Church in Soldotna.

More in Life

Promotional image courtesy Amazon MGM Studios
Dwayne Johnson as Callum Drift, J. K. Simmons as Santa Claus, Chris Evans as Jack O’Malley and Lucy Liu as Zoe Harlow in “Red One.”
On the Screen: ‘Red One’ is light on holiday spirit

The goofy, superhero-flavored take on a Christmas flick, feels out of time

Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion
A gingerbread house constructed by Aurelia, 6, is displayed in the Kenai Chamber of Commerce’s 12th Annual Gingerbread House Contest at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center on Wednesday.
The house that sugar built

Kenai Chamber of Commerce hosts 12th Annual Gingerbread House Contest

Pistachios and pomegranates give these muffins a unique flavor and texture. (Photo by Tressa Dale/Peninsula Clarion)
A chef is born

Pistachio and pomegranate muffins celebrate five years growing and learning in the kitchen

Make-ahead stuffing helps take pressure off Thanksgiving cooking. (Photo by Tressa Dale/Peninsula Clarion)
Holiday magic, pre-planned

Make-ahead stuffing helps take pressure off Thanksgiving cooking

Virginia Walters (Courtesy photo)
Life in the Pedestrian Lane: Let’s give thanks…

Thanksgiving has come to mean “feast” in most people’s eyes.

File
Minister’s Message: What must I do to inherit?

There’s no way God can say “no” to us if we look and act all the right ways. Right?

Jane Fair (standing, wearing white hat) receives help with her life jacket from Ron Hauswald prior to the Fair and Hauswald families embarking on an August 1970 cruise with Phil Ames on Tustumena Lake. Although conditions were favorable at first, the group soon encountered a storm that forced them ashore. (Photo courtesy of the Fair Family Collection)
The 2 most deadly years — Part 1

To newcomers, residents and longtime users, this place can seem like a paradise. But make no mistake: Tustumena Lake is a place also fraught with peril.

tease
Off the shelf: Speculative novel holds promise of respite

“A Psalm for the Wild-Built” is part of the Homer Public Library’s 2024 Lit Lineup

The cast of Seward High School Theatre Collective’s “Clue” rehearse at Seward High School in Seward, Alaska, on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Seward’s ‘Clue’ brings comedy, commentary to stage

The show premiered last weekend, but will play three more times, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 15-17

Most Read