I see Letters to the Editor from many parts of the socio-political spectrum regarding the state of our country today, both politically and culturally. Many of the issues are complex and we try to look at these issues and dissect them the best we can to discuss them. But issues can be like a cube, and people often only see one, two, maybe three sides of the cube at a time, which may be different sides than what others see. Although God can see all sides of “the cube” at once, we, as imperfect human beings, are not omniscient and can only see a limited view.

The point of the analogy is we need to both take a step back, ask God for His divine wisdom to help us in seeing the issue as He sees it and have patience with others who are limited as we are in the ability to address our problems — many of those problems which we have created ourselves through our fallen nature. Our fallen nature is exacerbated by our inability, for those on “opposite sides of the fence” (i.e. conservative and progressive liberal), to consistently communicate in a civil and kind manner. It seems the ability in this great country to engage in civil discourse to solve our problems has gone by the wayside.

Although God through His perfect Word tells us the difference between “right” and “wrong,” and there is no gray middle ground when it comes to such Biblical direction, we still must do our best to work out our differences and that best comes through open communication in a civil and kind manner. This Letter to the Editor forum can be a platform to accomplish such positive and productive efforts. The constitutional republic in which we live, guaranteed by our Constitution and Bill of Rights, gives us the opportunity for such open conversation and debate. Let’s use our God-given freedom in this country to accomplish good, and that can only be done through open civil discourse — the kind of civil discourse taught us by Jesus Christ.