...If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all. (Isaiah 7:9)

A legend has it that a just and good man went to Sodom one day, hoping to save the city from God’s impending judgment. He tried talking to first one individual and then another and another, but nobody would engage in conversation with him.

Next, he tried carrying a picket sign that had “Repent” written on it in large letters. Nobody paid the least attention to him except for a casual glance here and there at the sign he carried.

Finally he began going from street to street and from marketplace to marketplace, shouting loudly, “Men and women, repent! What you are doing is wrong. It will kill you! It will destroy you!”

The people laughed at him, but still he went about shouting. One day, a person stopped him and said, “Stranger, can’t you see that your shouting is useless?” The man replied, “Yes, I see that!” The person then asked, “Well, then why do you continue?”

The man answered, “When I arrived in this city, I was convinced I could change them. Now I continue shouting because I don’t want them to change me!”

Speak out for those things you believe to be true and good. If you remain silent, others may take your silence as agreement with their position–which may not be at all what you believe.

Holy Creator, may our voices be heard above the noise of today’s world. May our message be heard in our own hearts!