Should I love my neighbor or lock him out? Should I trust that those seeking help are sincere or should I be wary? Should I see others as other humans or as potential terrorists?

It really shouldn’t have to be black and white. I don’t tend to see things that way anyway. I see much more gray. There is so much more gray than black and white. The extremes are just that, extreme. Most of us lie somewhere in between. Where is the line between helping others and protecting your own?

Some people fear the others fleeing from terror thinking they might be trying to infiltrate and attack. This is a reasonable fear, perhaps, but it should not rule your life. There are people already here that do terrible things to other people. Are they not also terrorists? The wife of a wife-beater lives in terror. The molested child lives in terror. Just by looking I cannot tell if a man is a good man or a child molester. He could be any color and claim to be of any religion. I cannot tell by looking if the other people at the store have open minds or of they are closed. I cannot tell if they have compassion.

I have mentioned before that I often really do wonder:  What would Jesus do? It always pops into my head when I pass up a hitchhiker. I am a woman driving alone so I never pick up a hitchhiker. It would be stupid. My self-preservation wins in this situation even though I do not know if the hitchhiker has ill intentions or not. I would think that Jesus would pick up the hitchhiker if he were driving but I don’t think he would be driving. Seems more likely he would be hitchhiking. So, am I leaving Jesus on the side of the road?

Hearing about the bombings in Paris has brought out the best and the worst in people. Some people lean toward hate of all that is other and want to close the borders, get more guns, fly more flags, speak more English and be more Christian. Be more Christian? Can we protect ourselves and be more Christian? Can we be friends with our Muslim neighbors that already live here? I think it is natural to have initial thoughts of self-preservation and protection. But we cannot let hate of all that is other rule our lives.