How might you pursue justice and love this week in your family? Your work place? In an area of social concern? (Serendipity Bible 10th Anniversary Edition, page 1039).
These
are questions I can advantageously seek input from others on rather
than trying to answer them solely myself. If I asked my family and
friends to help me with such questions they would likely be taken
aback. This may constitute the first time ever that I have asked for
their input regarding such matters. By doing so I seem to be asking
for more work and effort in areas in which I in the past have
carefully mapped out as functions of my own personal prerogative and
initiative. Yet it is certainly possible that others can have
clearer perceptions than me as to outstanding needs and my abilities
to contribute to them. It is always good to ask God and oneself what
needs to be done in the way of justice and love, but this bias should
not exclude asking for the frank opinion of others.
I
am reluctant to invite evaluation from others for I fear they might
come up with answers that are wrong or perhaps dead-on right. I am
afraid that they will arrive at suggestions I do not like—requiring
more work and resources or in other ways putting me on the spot.
Perhaps I fear that they will attempt to exploit me or present me
with challenges in which I feel incompetent. I have viewed my
pursuit of justice and love as creative acts that are best guided by
my own perception and conscience rather than those of others. My
self-directed advice today is to break free from this pattern—rather
to begin soliciting and considering others input regarding how I
might more effectively pursue justice and love. As I plan to retire
in about a year, I can usefully get suggestions regarding volunteer
work, for example. Often times God speaks most clearly to us through
others.
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