Invisible people

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Proverbs 28:5 “Evildoers do not understand what is right, but those who seek the LORD understand it fully.”

Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.  Benjamin Franklin

One of the things my wife and I have done for our children as they were growing up is to talk about “invisible” people. These are people with obvious needs, physical or emotional, that are forgotten or ignored politely by our society.

I understand where that attitude can come from. You may be in the mall with your young children in tow. But, as you’re walking, you see a gentleman approaching that has lost an arm. Your young son looks and says in a loud voice, “Look, Daddy, that man doesn’t have an arm.” Because of the embarrassment of the moment, the next time a similar situation arises, you quickly say to your kids, “Don’t look, don’t stare, don’t say anything.” And our kids learn a lesson. Ignore people. Treat those disenfranchised or marginalized people as if they were invisible. If you do that long enough, your kids begin to believe there are people who are invisible, who don’t matter.

Ultimately, the things that truly matter are the things that matter to God. People matter. God redemptively acted in our world because people matter to Him. When injustice reigns it matters because people and their relationships are affected adversely.

Injustice should move us. When something is wrong, when something needs attention or correction, let’s be at the leading edge of doing something about it.

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