Editor:
    It seems God is calling out to us. Or maybe God is calling us out. Either way, we need to listen.
    I suppose that’s a bit pious and I willingly admit is my sincere personal opinion. I believe that we must honor and respect what we have been blessed with by loving each other and leaving this world a better place than we found it. The challenges we face today couldn’t be a better reminder of this basic moral duty. But how we honor, or disregard, that defines the future we leave for our children.
    If you disagree with me, I respect that as your God-given right and blessing of citizenship in our great country. However, if we as a community are interested in pulling flowers from the weeds of dissent, distrust, and hate, I hope that these words are useful.
    The daily issues facing us are full of confusion, frustration, and intermittent evil. That doesn’t mean we have to despair or turn against each other. What it should mean is that we seek common ground, find ways of working together, and make tomorrow better than yesterday. We may not all agree on the issues facing us but how we work through them is the key to our success, defining who we are and the future we make.
    Let’s all try to consider the following as we work through this daily strife:
    How would I feel if I was on the other end of this? Am I trying to offend someone or continue hurt that has divided our community? Am I modeling how I want our children to treat each other? Is what I’m doing making the world a better place? If I disagree with others, am I behaving with dignity and respect?
    Life may not be simple but love is. It is in each and every one of us. Yet, it is our choice as to whether we live it. Good people doing the right things have brought us a long way but we still have much work to do. That work will always be there. Problems from the past haunt us and new challenges taunt us.
    The opportunity to alter our course is here. This may mean we have some changes to make; real changes. As in how we see and do things regardless of how we have seen and done them in the past, and seeking to understand others before being understood. Where we go from here and how we go about it will tell the truth.
    We’ve seen a lot of hurt lately and we are at a fork in the road. Will we take the road less traveled? Will this pain be transformed into a foundation for greater healing or will it be a comforting moment of mourning quickly forgotten, becoming a wedge dividing us further over time? The answer is in our hearts and our actions.
    Let’s honor each other and all that our faith means to us by doing the right things together, and now. Forgive the past, come together now, and stay together from here on.
    This is our community and our children’s future, so let’s get it right. Love and understanding can prevail.

Charles G. Wilson
Statesboro