It was a typical summer Sunday morning in Tennessee. I was seven years old, sitting in a church outside Nashville with my family. After singing hymns and hearing a prayer or two, I settled down to ignore whatever the preacher would say and began coloring on the church bulletin.

Suddenly, the loudness of his voice startled me. I dropped my crayon, and my eyes became as wide as saucers.  This usually quiet man was preaching one of those ‘fire and brimstone’ sermons. This type of sermon uses vivid and often frightening imagery to warn of the consequences of sin. This one should have scared Satan’s horns off! Of course, I didn’t understand what brimstone was at the time, but whatever it was, I deemed it wasn’t good.

He must have frightened me into being pale and quiet because as we walked out of the church, Mom asked, “Lynn, why do you look so worried?”

“Well, Mama, I think our preacher was drunk!!”  ‘

She began to laugh so hard, tears welled in her eyes as I looked for the police to come take that poor man to the alcohol fixin’ house.

This funny little story has a moral that I did not realize until I shared it with my minister to brighten his day.

“See, Phil, it proves the theory that folks can yell so loud that no one hears the message.”

However, that fiery sermon did teach me I didn’t want to go wherever that blaze would burn me!

Many of my peers today yearn to return to a time when life seemed more straightforward and comfortable—to those days of old when folks were kinder, and goodness and respect prevailed. We fail to remember that our lives might have seemed blissful, but were everyone’s?

We may need a fire and brimstone sermon when we don’t recall the trials and tribulations others endured.

I don’t desire a return to a past where people thought themselves superior over others because of the color of their skin or the way they lived. I fail to find goodness in judgmentalism, racism, and ridicule. I cannot see respect and civility when people continue espousing hateful contempt and conceit.

Do we want to return to yesteryear when equality was just a word on paper and voting was allowed only for ‘some’?

The devil is cunning and often shows up in the little details of life. He tempts us to ignore and disobey God’s guidance and teachings. Sometimes, we express our anger and resentment through harsh words, thinking we are wiser than others.

We must remember the essence of sin. It is to turn us away from a loving Father. I was aware of this when I shrieked at my friend the other day, who made a political statement I disagreed with. I wailed at my best friend over nothing. She was wrong, and I wanted to be right…. So, who was truly wrong? Of course, it was me.

We must respect each other’s opinions and not let our disagreements become disasters.

We all err when we forget that love is more vital and productive than hate, but only if we use it. Remember that we can counteract scorn with kindness and improve all our lives.

I don’t know about you, but I certainly can blame some of our politicians, conspiracy theories, and media outlets for putting that killing brimstone back into our lives. The birth of the internet and its use are excellent and horrible simultaneously. Sometimes, we just can’t discern between the good and the terrible.

Maybe we are yelling so much that we no longer hear messages from God.

Grandpa (aka my grandmother) always said when we were disrespectful or unkind, “If you can’t say something nice, then don’t say it at all.”

Duh, let’s go back to that!

This election cycle will only tempt us to become uglier and nastier as the days pass. Why do we allow folks to appeal to the evil inferno in our souls instead of the kindness that dwells in our hearts?

Let’s collectively navigate these next months by remembering that fire and brimstone can only be cooled by God’s loving touch upon our souls, which brings us relief and comfort in the face of turmoil.

So, let’s put our crayons down and hear these words: He was asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”  Jesus replied, “The Lord our God is the one and only God.  And you must love him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. The second is, you must love others as much as yourself. No other commandments are greater than these.”

Mark 12: 28-31