Iraqi child in refugee camp.
Photo credit: unicefiran, Flickr Creative Commons

I read about it in the news. You have, too. The places where chaos and confusion and persecution have erupted.

I am thinking of our Christian brothers and sisters in Iraq, and how an extremist faction has taken over and is filling the people with fear.

One day, you are living; the next day, you might die. Just because of what you believe.

Young children who were once full of hope— their lives remain uncertain now.

They stand on top of a hill, surrounded by a menace equivalent to anyone’s worst nightmare, filled with trepidation.  What will become of them? A valley’s fields are filling with the blood of those who are dying.

Where love reigns, so does freedom. Where tyranny reigns, fear runs rampant.

And the scariest thing of all, is that I recognize it in my own heart. Hatred. It starts with me. It starts with one heart. One person, one neighbor, one word, one grudge, one remark, one action that multiplies and hatred spreads. My own heart is capable of that. I can be quite full of it, too.

Each one of us has a decision to make.

It starts with us. It starts with me. There is a cure for hatred. Change like this can’t be fulfilled by any political ideology, government, social agenda, or cultural shift. Change like this can’t happen simply by taking away guns, weapons, or extremist propaganda. No, because you see, we still have our original hearts.

This kind of radical change? It starts with the emptying of one’s heart, so that Jesus can fill it with himself.

Full of myself? Full of the world? Look at the news and we can see where that gets us.

Full of Jesus? That’s what I want. That’s what we need.

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This post was written for the Five Minute Friday prompt, “Fill”; and so happy to join Kate Motaung in her first week taking over the FMF community. My mind can’t process much else with the current horrifying news– not that it’s been any different in the ages; evil has been with us, as well as these atrocities. To read more stories written for the prompt “Fill”, or to submit your own, click here. And pray for those in need.