Finding the time to read has been a struggle as of late, but I started reading "What Does It Mean to Be Human?" which is the perfect read because it is complied of short responses by a variety of people, giving their own answer to that question. Here is part of Archbishop Desmond Tutu's answer (p. 269 - 272):
"God created you because God loves you. If each of us could grasp this truth and let it take root in us, there would be no place in the world for violence, for inhumanity, for ethnic animosities and genocide, for war and destruction.
For the believers there is no option when faced with injustice, oppression, and racism but to oppose them with every fiber of our being. It is a religious, not a political, duty. Not to do so would be to disobey God. To treat children of God as if they were less than this is not just evil, as undoubtedly it is. It is not just painful, as it must be often for the victim of the injustices of racism and oppression. It is veritably blasphemous, for it is as if we had spit in the face of God.
As God's representatives we are meant to bear rule over the rest of God's creation, not to exploit it harshly and irresponsibly but to bear rule as God would, caringly and compassionately, not being wantonly wasteful of irreplaceable natural resources, not callously polluting the atmosphere and the rivers, but as those who are God's stewards, knowing we will have to give an account of our stewardship.
We are created 'like God' to be creative in our relationships, in our work, in music, in the arts, in drama, in literature, even as gardeners. We can be creative in bringing beauty out of ugliness, peace out of war, harmony out of disharmony, order out of disorder, health out of disease. And we should not look to do what is spectacular and headline-grabbing. The mundane and unobtrusive can be equally wonderful opportunities for exercising our creativity."
No comments:
Post a Comment