I recently joined a Facebook group in the community where I live where people discuss community events and too often argue about many of the things people argue about ad nauseam in other corners of the internet.
It’s not great and to be honest it hasn’t given me a huge amount of pride in the community where we live.
Last week, a parent shared about how she was taking her son to work on learning to ride his bike in the parking lot of a local school when they encountered some bullies who were calling her son names and being downright uncool toward a kid half their age. When the mom said something to the boys, they lashed out at her too.
Somehow a debate ensued where some people were taking the side of the kids and criticizing the concerned parent for posting a photo of them. It was kind of a messy situation that seemed to only get messier online. What is wrong with people was a phrase that came to my mind and that my wife expressed after reading through the thread.
This morning my wife told me to check out the community group and I assumed it meant there was some other fight going on. But when I brought it up, it was just the opposite.
It turns out some kids in the neighborhood who were disturbed by this story decided to take matters in their own hands and show up when they knew the boy would be at the school again working on his bike riding. They were there to do the opposite of what those mean kids had done.
They were there to cheer him on and encourage him.
It worked. The boy took off riding and his new friends ran with him, fists pumping and cheers all around.
What a beautiful display of what it means to be the body of Christ, spurring one another toward love. Love won today in the parking lot of my local school. The kind of love that God has called us all to seek with all of or heart and soul and mind. A redeeming love that counters the things that tear down and destroy with kindness and beauty.
Praise God that hope is not lost. Praise God that the author of life is calling us to live what these boys have demonstrated and that we get to join in this work to undermine the work against it.
Do you have a story to share of love redeeming an ugly situation or an encouraging word to share? Email info@delanco.org.
