Just heart
Continued thoughts about justice.
Last night went pretty well, though I'm not sure how well it all came together at the end. Lots of questions about pain, fairness and what we deserver came up.
My next thought is, if we are to live as Christ, taking care of the least of these, why do we struggle with it so much. It's the easiest thing in the world to say we should do. And we love talking about social justice and all that needs done. In fact, people seem to get energized behind a cause, for a time.
That's the problem, it seems like we embrace a life of serving the destitute, hurting, unlovely, etc., those that need some love, for a time then move back into our daily lives. I'm horribly guilty of this.
I haven't come to many conclusions save it has become a personal problem. Here's what I mean. Groups, when motivated and energized, seem to do a good job of furthering whatever cause they might be behind. Think about it, Republicans, Democrats, Greenpeace, The World Wildlife Fund, The One Campaign, (Red), etc. These are causes that people get behind, often very strongly. And they are often entered into because of that group. We gravitate toward those that we share like passions with and join them in their journey.
It seems to be more difficult to just go out, find a hurting neighbor and help them. That doesn't fit into a time when we can all gather and fix the problem. It doesn't necessarily help our social status and it certainly isn't very visible. All of which are significant reasons to DO exactly what is hard. Because whether seen or not, people need each other to go out of their way to help; even if they go it alone.
As I continue to work through this with our students, I'll keep posting. I think this is a venture that will shape my soul and the souls of my youth in mighty ways.
Last night went pretty well, though I'm not sure how well it all came together at the end. Lots of questions about pain, fairness and what we deserver came up.
My next thought is, if we are to live as Christ, taking care of the least of these, why do we struggle with it so much. It's the easiest thing in the world to say we should do. And we love talking about social justice and all that needs done. In fact, people seem to get energized behind a cause, for a time.
That's the problem, it seems like we embrace a life of serving the destitute, hurting, unlovely, etc., those that need some love, for a time then move back into our daily lives. I'm horribly guilty of this.
I haven't come to many conclusions save it has become a personal problem. Here's what I mean. Groups, when motivated and energized, seem to do a good job of furthering whatever cause they might be behind. Think about it, Republicans, Democrats, Greenpeace, The World Wildlife Fund, The One Campaign, (Red), etc. These are causes that people get behind, often very strongly. And they are often entered into because of that group. We gravitate toward those that we share like passions with and join them in their journey.
It seems to be more difficult to just go out, find a hurting neighbor and help them. That doesn't fit into a time when we can all gather and fix the problem. It doesn't necessarily help our social status and it certainly isn't very visible. All of which are significant reasons to DO exactly what is hard. Because whether seen or not, people need each other to go out of their way to help; even if they go it alone.
As I continue to work through this with our students, I'll keep posting. I think this is a venture that will shape my soul and the souls of my youth in mighty ways.
posted by Mike at 4:08 PM
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