mercredi, février 04, 2009 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr: the Jericho Road “[W]e are called to play the Good Samaritan on life's roadside, but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho Road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life's highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.”(1)Recently, a number of conversations I've had centre around why I'm doing what I'm doing, or why do I bother with a job which pays a whole hunk of change less than what I could possibly earn in some other job which I am qualified to do. It's not particularly easy to explain to a society which does not really privilege ideals over the economic pragmatism of living life in Singapore - techno-crazy, expensive Singapore. I'm convinced that people would be a lot more happy, and we'd have a much healthier country (and world), if more people did what they liked to do. Not to say that we all slack off, of course - the Protestant Work Ethic does expound that work is good for the soul (although I won't go as far as seeing financial wealth as a mark of personal salvation.) The issues that drive each country towards wealth or poverty are diverse and always complex, often intermingled with other issues which intersect other concerns, which stem from a cornucopia of other problems that the populace faces. Charity starts at home: that initial flinging of the coin to a beggar. But it is only when we stand back and look at the entire edifice, as King puts it, will we see the crowds, and have compassion [Matt. 14:14]. I think I've seen the edifice, and it scares me. It brings to mind the Breton Fisherman's Prayer, which JFK kept as a plaque on his desk [2] :  But it doesn't mean we don't try. [2] JFK Library Online Libellés : christian, personal, thinking [Dr. Martin Luther King Jr: the Jericho Road] |
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