That wee little man...

I was helping out in Kindergarten Sabbath School today. The teacher was telling the story of Zacchaeus, the tax collector. It occurred to me what a unique lesson is found in Zacchaeus. I think most of us can accept that we need to love the lame, the poor, the blind, and the needy. It's not that hard to have sympathy for them. However it's much harder for us to love the greedy "tax collectors" of this world. Loving people who purposefully cheat us and who cause injustice seems nearly impossible.

So I started thinking, "What if I view people's vices as another form of disability or poverty?" I guess that is the way Jesus saw the greed of Zacchaeus. I mean you wouldn't get angry at a blind person for not being able to see. Is is possible to view the hate, injustice, greed, wickedness etc we see in others in the same light as physical or material disadvantages.

I know when I tried to give up actively hating George Bush it was pretty dang hard. I still have to turn off NPR when I hear him speaking. Yet I find my life a lot easier to live now that I am not continually angry at him. I don't think it's made a a difference in his life yet. =) But if he was someone I knew personally who I managed to stop hating and started treating kindly it could make a big difference for the both of us.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Aye, aye! I have the same affliction as you regarding W and many other people who are on the other end of the political/theological spectrum. Commitment to love must include being generous even to those who seek to exclude me...which is sooo hard.

Thanks for your reflections!
February 10, 2007 at 4:26 PM
Leslie Foster said…
That's right on the mark...and a painful pill to swallow...sigh.
Thanks for saying it, if we are people who love, it needs to be an open love.
February 12, 2007 at 7:22 PM
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