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At our weekly Wednesday lunch gathering of the Pamlico Chapter of ROMEO (Retired Old Men Eating Out), a tall, bearded man walked over to our table.

“Is this a church group?” He asked. We responded appropriately. Then he said, “ I’d like to give each of you something.” And so he did.

We were each handed a shiny golden looking medallion, a bit larger than a half dollar.

On this token was a referenced Bible verse from Ephesians 6: 11-17, which describes the “Armor of God” and how Christians can use it to fight spiritual battles: “Therefore take up the whole Armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything to stand firm.”

Well, now. I think I might like to put on that “Armor of God.” In these times, especially, we need all the protection we can get.

Just how the bearded medallion man might define evil I’m not sure. You know, we don’t all see “evil” the same way. Some who are really absorbed in politics would see “evil” as views different from their own. You know, those tired old “liberal” and “conservative” perspectives.

Simply using the word “evil” freely to describe a view point one objects to seems overwrought.

Seems to me we all could use a bit more of the “Love Thy neighbor” approach. Yet I often think to myself “ What do I know?” The answer is usually “Not much.”

DIDACTIC –“ Loving our neighbors takes practice,” wrote the Rector at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in our paper’s “Pastor Perspective.”

The Rev. Chris Adams has interesting ways of making a point, as he gently nudges his readers – and I am one – towards a fuller understanding of brotherhood and sisterhood.

He makes truly didactic points in a loving way.