VIEWPOINT

Recent news stories have emphasized the serious nature of this year’s flu season.  Although it’s spring, a few cases of the severe virus are still remaining.  Over the winter, we’ve had quite a few folks in our Cedar Grove family suffer from contagious illnesses. 

Viruses aren’t the only things that “spread.”  We know that evil and sin spread. Scrip-ture repeatedly warns us that iniquity works like a contagion, and part of our duty is to ward off its infection.  It's quite easy to get carried away with companions or circumstances. We aren't initially aware of how we've assumed the standards of our environment.  Like a disease, evil is very contagious, and we don't always perceive how infected we are.  That’s the reasoning in the statement “Don't you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough?” (1 Cor. 5:6)

On the other hand, goodness spreads, too.  If we are lucky, all of us have people or know people whose mere presence seems to strengthen resolve and virtue.  One reason that church attendance, participation, and involvement are so crucial is because our spirits need the benefits of positive influence and encouragement.  In a fallen world, we need others to spur us on toward positive directions.  Some people simply have a Spirit-aided knack for pulling out the pure and holy in the rest of us. Viewpoint, continued

Do a spiritual check up. Which are you more prone to catch?  Which are you more inclined to spread?  Remember that some things are passed around regardless of what we have intended.  We may think we can keep our vices to ourselves, but we might be surprised at how they eventually infect others.  And sure enough, it not only progresses, but increases in virulence; the more who catch it, the more potent it is.

Likewise, while our choices to do what's right are personal, those choices can and do impact others.  Our decisions for right might fuel others to similar determinations.  The kingdom is advanced rather than retarded. 

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“ALL MEMBERS of the congregation share in the responsibility of educating and nurturing children. . . . Christian education of children depends upon adults who actively and intentionally mentor children in practices of faith, and upon the ability of children to have access to and participate in the community's practices” (Joyce Ann Mercer, Welcoming Children).

“WE GAZE at the future through the window of our children; how we shape them shapes the future. And they will be shaped, by the world if not by us. Each small face harbors the same question, unanswered by self-help books and talk shows:  Who am I and why am I here?” (Sallie Tisdale, "Grace," in God Is Love).

I look forward to seeing you Sunday with a Bible, a smile and a positive word!    RA