Discerning the deeper battles in the place we call home

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Notes From Alex

Is it just me, or does it feel like the spiritual battle for our town is getting louder?

Lately, I’ve been sitting quietly, watching, listening, and reading between the lines of what’s happening around us. And there’s a heaviness I can’t quite ignore. It’s not just the usual small-town drama or the everyday bumps in the road. There seems to be something deeper moving beneath the surface.

Almost like an alarm bell in the distance.

You know the feeling — when you can’t always explain it in words, but your heart picks up on it anyway. Conversations feel more tense. People seem more divided. There’s more hurt floating around in the air than usual. It makes you pause and wonder… what’s really going on here?

I’m not writing this from a place of fear. And I’m definitely not pointing fingers. Small towns — especially ones like ours in Southeast Alaska — go through seasons just like the tides do. But sometimes, in certain seasons, the undercurrent feels stronger.

So the real question becomes:

What do we do when we sense the noise getting louder?

For me, the answer isn’t panic. It isn’t gossip. And it certainly isn’t adding more fuel to the fire.

If anything, it’s the opposite.

Maybe this is the time to slow down and pray a little more.
To speak a little more kindly.
To listen a little more carefully.
To love our neighbors a little more intentionally — even the ones we don’t always agree with.

Because if there is a deeper battle going on, it won’t be won by louder arguments or sharper words.

It will be won quietly.

In the way we show up.
In the way we carry peace into tense spaces.
In the way we refuse to let bitterness take root in our own hearts.

I don’t claim to have all the answers. I’m just someone sitting here, paying attention, feeling the shift in the air like many of you probably are too.

But maybe — just maybe — sounding the alarm doesn’t mean creating more noise.

Maybe it means becoming more grounded.
More prayerful.
More aware.
More compassionate.

Because every town goes through storms.

The question is:
Will we be people who stir the winds… or people who help calm the waters?

— Alex