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From Eliyahu:

Shalom friends,

Born in America, I've seen a lot over the decades. In the 60s we had cold war with the Russians, hot war with Viet Nam, "feminism" became a thing, and the "sexual revolution" with so-called "free love" and "gay pride" rocked the cultural divide. Don't forget LSD and "pot." Civil rights came to the fore. Three major political assassinations shocked the country: President Kennedy and his brother Bobby were assassinated, as was Martin Luther King. Oh yeah, somewhere in there a man walked on the moon. It was a crazy and wild decade, but still, for the people I knew, everybody got along pretty well. At the time, I never would have believed that the 60s would become the "good old days" - at least the 60s included a message of peace and love, and a sense of humor. The 2010s?  Not so much.

Am I saying the 2010s have been worse than the 1960s? I certainly am. For all the wild times, there was no general consensus of any major segment of American society for a civil war back then. Certainly no major news sources ever entertained such an absurd idea, or even mentioned it. Not so in the 2010s. The division and even hatred between cultural blocks that has been stirred up in this decade makes any kind of meaningful compromise impossible. Also, (spiritual brothers and sister excepted) I've not heard much about peace and love in any form that makes sense lately, and a lot of people are just too sensitive about EVERYTHING to allow for a good laugh about ANYTHING.

We are all aware of division and hatred in countries around the world. However, many think of America as the foundation of stability in the world, which is why I'm focusing on America here. The hatred and division in America has become so great in the 21st century, that even well-known news sources repeatedly speculate on the possibility of civil war. This began to get particularly nasty during the 2016 election news cycle, and has only intensified since then. Here are a few examples of this civil war talk in the news: 

What are the chances of a second American Civil War?
"Last time out, in early March, when we discussed this, the consensus number for national security experts was at about 30 percent, with some outliers at 60 percent and even 95 percent." Foreign Policy, June 28, 2017

Stop making second American Civil War clickbait 
Vox, Jun 1, 2018

In America, talk turns to something not spoken of for 150 years: Civil war
The Washington Post, March 2, 2019

Is America Heading For Another Civil War?
WBUR, July 30, 2019

Why Trump, Facing Impeachment, Warns of Civil War
The New Yorker, October 5, 2019

And look at this:

According to the sources above, in 2017 the consensus was that the odds of an actual civil war in America stood at 30%. Now, on the verge of 2020, we are told the odds of a civil war in America stand at a whopping 67%. Of course, those figures refer to an actual shooting war. The Heritage Foundation, and some other credible sources, say that America is in a "cold" civil war already, and have been for a while, needing only a spark in the tinder to go from cold to hot. When neighbors are thinking of literally going to war with one another it is pretty clear they have little or no love for one other. To paraphrase Bible prophecy, "Because lawlessness is increased, most people's love has grown cold."  By every measure this cooling off of the love of neighbor will only get worse. What a contrast this is with these words of Messiah: "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."  (John 13:35, Matthew 24:12 NASB)

This may be the biggest challenge followers of Messiah face in these times - to continue to walk in love for others when the world around us is bristling with hostility. Messiah's love is equal to this challenge. Let's let His love flow through us, and it will attract those who don't belong to this world!

Shalom,

Eliyahu
Tsiyon.Org

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