A father was laying a new concrete path to the front of their home. Just as he had it nicely levelled and smoothed, his four-year-old son ran out of the house to see what Daddy was doing - and walked right across the newly-laid work. The father exploded. His wife called through the open window, "Darling, I thought you loved children." "I do," he replied, "in the abstract, but not in the concrete!"
The child has no concept of the "big picture" - a limitation that can continue through into adulthood. For example, we only have a small picture of the situation with asylum seekers or of events in Israel. Yet people cen become very dogmatic about the rights and wrongs and what should be done. Society becomes polarised around conflicting but limited views - the media don’t help!
As a Council, you face similar pressures from people whose limited view leads to limiting prejudices.
In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul was writing about "love." Among many other things, he says, "Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known" (v. 12b).
Ultimately, only God has the "big picture." None of the rest of us "knows it all." So we have to listen carefully, do our research and then seek wise decisions on the basis of what we do know.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, help us to care for all people - even for those who irritate us at times with their arrogance and ignorance. Help us to listen carefully and to make wise decisions at all times. Enable us to understand the limitations of our knowledge and to live humbly before you who alone knows all things. You know us fully, Lord, as we come to you, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
© Peter J. Blackburn, Burdekin Shire Council Devotions, 24 April 2002
