July 28th

“For your obedience is known to all; therefore, I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and guileless in what is evil.” Romans 16:19

they tutor us in outrage,
they make us apprentices of fear,
those loud, angry voices insisting
that wickedness deserves all our attention—
yet, the good news never claims
we become fluent in evil but
invites us to learn the language of grace,
to choose gentleness over cruelty,
hope instead of fear,
peace before enmity.
so may we become adept
at love’s stubborn vocabulary,
those who know the names of mercy,
who glimpse resurrection blooming
in the cracked dirt of another day.
for in a world with
far too many prophets of despair,
may we be those
whose wisdom is shaped by goodness,
whose hearts remain untrained in hate,
and whose lives become
the quiet, persistent proof
that love has the final word.

(c) 2026 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman