This morning’s Disturbing Thought had me looking at a well known passage in a way that I have never looked at it in the past.

All the nations of the world will be gathered before him, and he will separate them into two groups as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. The Son of Man will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to the people on his right … (Matt 25:31)

The word I had not noticed, but drawn out by Bodenheim is nations. It is nations here that are arranged to the left and right, not individual people as I had ‘heard’ before. I am not sure what that means for us today!

It is interesting to see, as well, that neither set of people, the goats and the sheep, has any idea as to why they are being judged as they are. As Bodenheim points out, there is nothing about professing faith, or claiming Jesus as Lord; the believers are not separated from non-believers. Instead nations who show compassion are separated from nations that do not.

Today I have been disturbed by this and as the day draws to a close wonder if this is really all about how we use the power that we have to help the poor and neglected? Do we, instead get embroiled and use our power to attempt to win arguments in the stuff that God is not that bothered about while we dismiss the issues that clearly God is concerned about, such as how we treat the weak in our societies?

“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man planted in his field.
That seed is the smallest of all seeds, but when it grows, it is one of the largest garden plants. It becomes big enough for the wild birds to come and build nests in its branches.”

I think it is true that many of us look at injustices and wish things were not as they were.

Most transformations in society occur when a community decides to bring about change. If that is to happen, usually an individual has to make a stand and take the initial step of speaking out, or asking a question, or writing a letter. That tiny act, or seed of transformation, starts to grow as others with similar views join the initial person and a community of transformation is born.

AS I think back to the Burma protests I am intrigued as to how it actually started. Who was the first monk who dared to speak, and in doing so risked condemnation, oppression and even death. How did that monk feel?

If individuals do not speak out, things do not change.

As a Christian I am challenged to think about those instances where I have not spoken out, or taken a stand. Those times when I’ve known what the right thing to do is, but have chosen to ‘choose my battles’ and stay quiet. It’s honestly disturbing my complacency as its easy to pretend I’m living quite well if I do not reflect on how my life is in reality. I’m wondering whether the adage of ‘choose your battles’ is a cop out?

The words of Edmund Burke have been echoing in my head today:
“The only thing required for evil to triumph is for good men to (say and) do nothing.”