Jagged Edge by Susan L.

  My church has been following a series,  "Christian Theology, Learned, Loved and Lived". It's a series outlining what The Meeting House, a church of the Brethren in Christ, believes as Anabaptists.
  In this older series, Bruxy Cavey uses a chalk board to illustrate what he is talking about. I don't remember the exact subject matter of the day but he wrote down two opposing viewpoints on how Christianity is practiced.
  His chalk squeaked and broke as he drew a jagged line between the two. The line represented the break in community over religious differences. Differences, even if it's only over one or two points, cause the biggest rift between brothers and sisters in Christ.
  The sad thing is that it is our different viewpoints that sever any sort of relationship we might have with others of faith when in fact it should be our similarities that unite us. We, who follow Jesus Christ, are the church.
  Each Sunday, the lesson is opened with quotes. Jesus, John Calvin, John Wesley, St. Augustine, and a diverse array of many people fill the page with wisdom. It is a good thing, this wisdom that surpasses religion because the lesson exemplified in each of the quotes is the same.

  Love...
  If we can't love our brothers and sisters in Christ, how can we love the world who does not know Him? Or why do we love the world so much yet cannot love those of another faith?
  I hope and pray, my Lord, that You will bring the jagged edge to mind whenever I meet with a fellow believer. Help me be gracious, kind, and loving. Most of all, help me be open to learning! I ask also, for discernment in knowing what is true and right and holy and what is not. In Jesus' name I pray. AMEN
  "And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."" Acts 1:7-8