A Reflection for Monday of the Twenty-third Week in Abnormal Time
“Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath
reasonably than to do evil,
to avoid wasting life reasonably than to destroy it?” (Lk 6:9)
“In the event you’re not a part of the answer, you’re a part of the issue.”
I remember hearing that loads growing up, certainly one of many little adages that somebody like Ben Franklin probably said. Teachers used it to discuss bullying, encouraging people to rise up for one another. I at all times thought it was a bit too easy for the actual complexities of our lives.
Today, though, I’m not so sure. Perhaps its simplicity is intentional, a challenge to place your money where your mouth is. We don’t should have the complete solution ourselves to timeless and colossal human problems. However the moment we stop trying, the moment we drift toward complacency, we’ve grow to be a negative force on the planet.
It’s not enough to concentrate on ourselves and construct the life we wish if that life doesn’t involve fighting for justice.
Most of us have enough on our plates already. We don’t think we’ve the bandwidth to tackle society’s problems. But Christians are told in no uncertain terms that cash and success are the things we shouldn’t have time for. It’s not enough to concentrate on ourselves and construct the life we wish if that life doesn’t involve fighting for justice.
Within the Gospel today, Jesus asks, “Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath reasonably than to do evil, to avoid wasting life reasonably than to destroy it?”
The “evil” in query here would have been simply following the foundations of the Sabbath, refraining from performing a cure on a day of rest. Jesus would have been far inside his right to not act. As a substitute, he equates inaction to negative motion. The query implies that doing nothing is similar as doing harm.
The structures of power that dictate our lives is not going to go away on their very own. We’ve got inherited a world built on keeping the marginalized where they’re. Jesus wants us to query the foundations made by the powerful of our society, when those rules discard people reasonably than supporting them.
We will not be called to maintain living our lives and avoid the issue, regardless of what rules or power structures stand in our way. We’re called to be flagrant and outspoken in our love for individuals who need us.
Because if we’re not a part of the answer, we’re a part of the issue.
