Living in the Spirit
August 30, 2021
Scripture Reading:
Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23
A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,
and favor is better than silver or gold.
The rich and the poor have this in common:
the Lord is the maker of them all.
Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity,
and the rod of anger will fail.
Those who are generous are blessed,
for they share their bread with the poor.
Do not rob the poor because they are poor,
or crush the afflicted at the gate;
for the Lord pleads their cause
and despoils of life those who despoil them.
These pithy sayings from Proverbs add to saying that people are more important than money, and injustice leads to calamity. My reading came to a halt as I read, do not crush the afflicted at the gate. My brain flashed back to the explosion at the Abbey Gate, where masses of people fearing for their future were crowded together trying to enter the Kabul Airport. I was struck by the name Abbey and wondered why it was the name given the gate. An abbey is a monastery or church because it is a monastery ruled by an abbot or a convent ruled by an abbess—a holy place. There is little good that came out of the USA’s sojourn in Afghanistan. Still, the one good thing I have observed in tracking this tragedy is the USA soldiers’ commitment to saving the Afghans who supported their work while serving in that country. They call them brothers.
I am not a person who dwells on regret. I am sure there will be many books that will tell us what we did wrong. I tend to look to the future and wonder what we can do for the Afghans and all people in our world to correct the injustices that keep them from being the people God created them to be. War is not a viable solution. Injustice is most closely aligned with the economy. Perhaps we need to pay more attention to the first two sentences in the above scripture.
Prayer: Lord, show us the better ways to lift people out of injustice and into the fulness of your love and life. Amen.
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.