Title: Shameful Lives / Topic: Justice

Posting from our nation's capital, Washington D.C., from May 22 through June 3.

Today's Reading: Proverbs 1; Proverbs 2; Proverbs 3; Romans 7

Scripture: Proverbs 1:3, 10-12, 13
3 for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair...
10 My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in to them.
11 If they say, "Come along with us; let's lie in wait for someone's blood, let's waylay some harmless soul;
12 let's swallow them alive, like the grave, and whole, like those who go down to the pit...
15 my son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths...

Observation/Application: Today Cynthia and I spent 6-1/2 hours going through the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum just off the Capitol Mall near the Washington Monument. It was a sobering experience. What struck me over and over was that so many German people either turned a blind eye to the increasingly menacing maltreatment of the Jews or actually cooperated with it. There are thousands of grainy photographs showing German soldiers and/or ordinary German citizens smiling and laughing while either watching or participating in some abuse of Jewish persons or property. I thought that something like this could happen anywhere because people can easily be turned into a mob given the wrong leadership. And I thought how important it is to teach nobility to our children. Teaching our young people to stand up for the right is not something that is done much today. We have a hard time even teaching children that there is "right and wrong!"
Now to the scripture: Solomon urges study of the Proverbs for learning and "acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair." Truly understanding justice is so important for living in a challenging moral environment. As Solomon wrote, there are always those who will plot evil against the innocent and invite others to join them. But training in righteousness and the impartation of character can prevent those others from going along. I believe we need to think hard and long about how we can better prepare our young people with moral training to impart excellence of character as much as possible. Our world, our nation, our city, our neighborhoods, our schools are at risk because of the preponderance of young people without a strong sense of moral obligation and social connectedness and responsibility.

Bottom Line: It starts with me and you. Are you willing to stand against injustice, even to your own peril? We must be. The future of humankind depends on it.

Prayer: Lord, You were telling the truth when You said, "there is none righteous, no not one." We need Your help to imbue Your justice, truth, and selflessness into the lives of those under our care. Help us to train true honor and character into lives and to demonstrate it in our own lives as well.
This I pray in Jesus' name, Amen.