Have
you ever reflected on this question? I often have as I have come to realise
that yes we need systems to enable the fairness and inclusion of all I touched
on in last week’s Blog. However as Jesus often demonstrated in his engagement
with people the compassion and inclusion he practiced worked counter to where
the system had gone. Sadly, like many things, systems can start out to help
those least able to help themselves than in our society but end up being
manipulated by those desiring riches and power to beat others with to bring
them into their way which is not what God is calling us to be.
I
love the following story that has helped me at times in dealing with whether I
beat the person who seems to have failed or love them instead:
“A daughter complained to her father about how
hard things were for her.” As soon as I solve one problem," she said,
"another one comes up. I’m tired of struggling." Her father, a chef,
took her to the kitchen where he filled three pots with water and placed each
on a high fire. Soon the pots came to a boil. In one he placed carrots; in the
second, eggs; and in the last, ground coffee beans. He let them sit and boil,
without saying a word.
The
daughter impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing. After a while, he
went over and turned off the burners. He fished out the carrots and placed them
in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. He poured the
coffee into a bowl. Turning to her he asked, "Darling, what do you
see?" "Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.
He
brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that
they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling
off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to sip
the coffee. She smiled, as she tasted its rich flavour. She asked, "What
does it mean, Father?" He explained that each of them had faced the same
adversity--boiling water--but each reacted differently. The carrot went in
strong, hard, and unrelenting, but after being subjected to the boiling water,
it softened and became weak.
The
egg was fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but
after sitting through the boiling water, its inside hardened. The ground coffee
beans were unique, however. By being in the boiling water, they changed the
water. He asked his daughter, "When adversity knocks on your door, which
are you?"” The woman who had been bent over for eighteen years had
experienced eighteen years of adversity. Perhaps the woman who had been bent
over for eighteen years started out with the sternness of a carrot, only to
find that she had been softened by time with the fading hope of a solution to
her problem.
Better
still, perhaps she was like the uncooked egg representing a character quality
that resembles meekness only to end up over the course of those eighteen years
in her heart like the character of the boiled egg---hardened. In any event, she
needed someone to come along and help her fix her problem---someone who would
change the atmosphere much like coffee changed the water.
Jesus
changed people everywhere He went. He always reached out to those on the
outside and loved them. We are the keepers of our brothers and sisters. We are
accountable for how we treat those whom we come in contact with. By our actions
we can bring changes for better or worse. To condemn and vilify because we
might interpret something written in a particular way is nor what we are called
to be. So, are we like the carrot or an egg?
By
our actions we can change the hearts of the hard-hearted and make them soft or
the soft-hearted or just the opposite, we can make the meek hardened in heart
and attitude. Like Jesus we need to change the atmosphere around us by being
the salt of the earth and the light of the world so that those standing on the
outside can find a haven---a refuge.
Does it show love to keep
people in need standing on the outside? “Government and the religious establishment
are too often in collusion when violence against the poor occurs. How can
people love only those who are just like them? How can we honestly say we
honour the mandate of scripture to “love our neighbour as we love ourselves” if
we are passing by “on the other side” of their pain? Are we showing love by
keeping people who are in need standing on the outside? Jesus included everyone
in His mission.
Jesus included those who were
considered sinners and outcasts. But if the truth be told, we are all sinners
who hunger for the love that God so freely offers to everyone. Yet, not
everyone accepts God’s offer of unconditional love and forgiveness. We are
called to be and need to be more like Jesus, in our actions as well as in our
words. We need to love like Jesus. What good does it do for us to love only
those that are just like us?
“An anonymous soul has
expressed it well:
Love is the spark that kindles the fires of compassion.
Compassion is the fire that flames the candle of service.
Service is the candle that ignites the torch of hope.
Love is the spark that kindles the fires of compassion.
Compassion is the fire that flames the candle of service.
Service is the candle that ignites the torch of hope.
Hope is the torch that lights
the beacon of faith.
Faith is the beacon that reflects the power of God.
God is the power that creates the miracle of love.
Faith is the beacon that reflects the power of God.
God is the power that creates the miracle of love.
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