A fair day today, but chilly; lovely for walking.
Tomorrow’s Lectionary includes a passage from Romans – beautiful and inspiring, but also hard to put into action – especially this forgiveness thing…
“12:19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
12:20 No, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.”
12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
But how are you to forgive, when someone else vulnerable has been hurt by a bully? The need for justice also demands action from us.
How can an enemy ‘burn’ with shame if they have no idea that what they are doing is wrong, because (for instance) they come out of a culture that’s deeply messed up? After all, speed limits are for sissies, aren’t they? There’s still a need to assert what’s right and what’s wrong.
Even so, the idea of contrary engagement can be powerful – like Jesus’ coat/shirt thing (Luke 6:27-30) – it is like the more recent idea of non-violent direct action. I think someone pointed out though, that the latter depends on things being fairly reported in the media. If the press are forced to be unfair, then we’re all in trouble.