阅读经文 

在最初，这仅仅是一场抗议乔治·弗洛伊德被残暴杀害引发的和平游行，可是，在夜幕低垂后，它已经演变为黑夜中的骚乱了。愤怒的群众击碎商店大门、警车被纵火焚烧、店铺也燃烧起来，这些景象促使我跪下来恳切祷告，也令我焦虑到难以入睡。我看到了败坏、恐怖、邪恶。

第二天早上，我察看新闻报告。暴徒们已经离开了，然而他们却在市中心留下了一片狼藉：破碎的门窗、烧毁的汽车、下流的涂鸦、令人伤痛的废墟。

在现场视察损坏程度的记者，采访一位带着两个小孩的年青母亲，他问道：“今天早上你们为什么来这里呢？”她回答说：“看到新闻后，我们相信这个城市需要有人来彰显神的爱。”

还有其他的人也在那里——清扫玻璃碎片、尝试在混乱中恢复秩序。那位母亲和她大约五岁和七岁的小孩拿着刷子和肥皂，也在那里尝试清洗难以除去的涂鸦。他们在黑暗中带来一线光明，在这个邪恶势力如此赤露敞开的地方，他们为这受伤之地带来几许来自神的爱。

在那位母亲和她的小孩身上，我们看见了耶稣；她和她的孩子代表了教会，基督的身体——这是以善胜恶的实践。看到他们所做的，我向神献上感恩的祷告，眼眶里含着感激的热泪。

It began as a peaceful march to protest the brutal killing of George Floyd. But as the darkness deepened, it became a dark night of riotous behavior. Images of angry people smashing store fronts, of police cars ablaze, and of businesses going up in flames brought me to my knees in earnest prayer and disturbed my anxious sleep. What I saw was bad, frightening, evil.

In the morning I checked the news. The rioters were gone, but they had left a disturbing mess: smashed windows, burned cars, vile graffiti, sad ruins in the heart of the city.

A reporter surveying the damage approached a young mother with two children. He asked, "Why are you here this morning?" She said, "We saw the news; we decided that this city needs someone to show the love of God."

Others were there too—sweeping up the glass shards, trying to restore order to chaos. The mom and her children, who were about 5 and 7 years old, were there with brushes and soap, trying to erase stubborn graffiti. They brought some light into the darkness, some of God's love into a broken place where the evidence of evil was very real.

In that mother and her little ones, I saw the presence of Jesus. She and her children were being the church, Christ's body—overcoming evil by doing good. As I watched, warm and grateful tears welled up from within me in a prayer of thanks to God.