18 ”Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.

-Isaiah 1:18-

Will we ever learn that violence begets more violence, and that an eye for an eye only results in blindness?

Living in an age of terror is an unsettling thing for people not accustomed to locking their doors at night or wondering whether it is safe to take the direct route to their car after dark. The specter of violence has gone from cinema and TV to our neighborhood. Uneasiness causes us to cast suspecting glances at our neighbor or the stranger sitting across us on a public transport or in public places. “Could it happen here?” we ask ourselves, and the hollow answer comes back, “Why not? Others didn’t think it would happen to them but it did.”

What’s gone wrong? How do we account for humanity’s horrible cruelty to innocent victims? Most of the time the victim doesn’t even know the violator. He or she just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Violence in the media? International terrorism? Breakdown of the family structure? You can argue all these and more.

A human being’s inhumanity to his or her fellow human being can only be explained in terms of a sickness in the hearts of people which the Bible calls sin. The sickness of the heart and soul produces anger and violence which can only be cured by the touch of God. He generates stony, hate-filled hearts and turns hatred into love.

The age of terror will never be dissipated by an army of policemen in their flak jackets and gas masks. We need spiritual revival-we need to repent of our sinfulness and rebellion and ask God to forgive us and cleanse us for our unrighteousness and filth. It is the only medicine that cures the sinfulness of the heart.

Pastor Gideon Gallo is Administrative Pastor at Gladbrook Global United Methodist Church, 715 Lincoln St., Gladbrook. He can be reached at 641-473-2025, or gladbrookmethodist@windstream.net.