Colossians 3:12-16. Paul reminds us, as God's chosen ones, to put on compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness and patience; to forbear and forgive one another, as God has forgiven us. And "above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony." Let Christ's peace reign in our hearts, and be thankful. Let Christ's word dwell in us richly, as we "teach and admonish one another in all wisdom."

In these very troubled times, I am having such a hard time with patience. I can see that we are being lied to and manipulated to the detriment of all of us, but many people I love do not see it yet, and they angryly defend the lies instead of opening their hearts and minds to the truth. It is so astounding to me and so confusing. Their anger often lands on me, and it hurts. I try to practice kindness, forgiveness, compassion, meekness, and all the other things that Paul tells us to do, but this just seems to make them angrier. So then I step back, not because I do not love them - I do, and I know that love is the answer, I am really stepping back out of love because I can tell I am hurting them or upsetting them by hinting at the fact that we are being lied to.

This hurts so much - I am separated from so many who I love and I cannot see the solution, I cannot see the way back to a loving, whole relationship with them. It is a true dilemma, and the only answer that I see is to surrender to God and try to walk in his ways while persevering through this. In other words, God is teaching me patience by necessity. I must forbear and forgive and wait patiently for God to reveal the truth to them and to me when we are ready. Then we must be there, loving each other, and helping each other when we all see and realize the consequences the lies have had on all of us.

The situation is very dire, and will get worse, but God will see us all through it.