Lent 2022, Day 24

 


Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?”

Luke 6:9 

In a time of parsing, of lawyering up, of justifying action or inaction, of self-protection at all costs, maybe the question Jesus asks points to a better, simpler approach: should we “save life or destroy it?” Should we “do good or do evil?” Seems so easy, so obvious.

I hesitate to quote Jesus Christ and Dwight Schrute in the same context, but here goes:

"Whenever I'm about to do something, I think 'Would an idiot do that?' And if they would, I do not do that thing.”

Words to live by. Don’t be evil. Don’t destroy life. Don’t be an idiot.

But evil surrounds us, lives are intentionally destroyed every moment of every day, and there seems to be an abundance of idiocy. Jesus’ simple teaching turns out to be not that simple, apparently, and certainly not so easily adhered to, sometimes especially by those who claim to be his followers. Not a good look. Not the way to bring wholeness and peace.

Libby is not an idiot, until she loses her mind over a minor change in her world. Then she becomes an unthinking, reactive bundle of poor decisions. We all have those moments, moments we’re not proud of—making assumptions, reacting, thinking only of self and lashing out. The trick is to decide beforehand not to be an idiot, not to be evil, not to immediately resort to name-calling, to biting, to self-protection, to war. The trick is to prepare beforehand to be calm, to think things through, to default to kindness.

And here is Libby, not an idiot in this moment, but giving me her “I am surrounded by idiots” look.

#lent2022 #rescuedogsofinstagram #bibleinoneyear #dontbeanidiot




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