If your child has a fever and ear ache, you don’t just give her Tylenol. You give her an antibiotic. Because the fever and ear ache are not the problem. The problem is the infection.

Racism, hate, and intolerance are not problems. They are symptoms. Sin is the problem. But you won’t hear that on the evening news.

“Sin” is a churchy word. It basically means “missing the mark” of what God wants. But if you look up the definition online now, Webster’s and Wikipedia start off referring to “religious law” or “religious context.” As if the spiritual realm exists apart from the world.

There is no denying that racism, hate, and intolerance exist. But there is a difference between what individuals do and who they are. We are three-part beings – body; soul; and spirit. We do things in the physical. We think and feel things in the mental and emotional. But ultimately, we exist as spirit beings in a natural world. And the spirit and the natural can’t be separated. Anymore than your thoughts can be separated from your brain.

If your car is in Michigan and you are in your car, your brain is in Michigan. But your thoughts may be on a warm, sunny beach in the Caribbean. And your thoughts can direct your body to steer toward the airport.

Faith is not an out of body experience. Where is your faith taking you?