Friday, May 29, 2009

A biblical imperative

"Soup"
Artist: William-Adolphe Bouguereau
Image from Wikimedia Commons

I subscribe to the emails that Sojourners sends out daily. In addition to other material, they usually include a "quote of the day" as well as a "verse of the day" in those mailings.

I was particularly moved by the following:

There's fire in the ashes and good things happening everywhere. There are reserves of life and strength in us that we never imagine are there until we absolutely need them.

-- Jerry Smith, a Capuchin friar who runs two soup kitchens in Detroit that serve 2,000 meals a day.

And today's verse:

When you beat your olive trees, do not strip what is left; it shall be for the alien, the orphan, and the widow. When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, do not glean what is left; it shall be for the alien, the orphan, and the widow. Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I am commanding you to do this.

- Deuteronomy 24:20-22

For the life of me, I do not understand how "Bible-believing Christians" can justify hating immigrants or refusing to help the needy.

2 comments:

  1. speaking as an immigrant, i too can not understand the fear of the "other".........

    ReplyDelete
  2. I also appreciate the admonition to "...remember you were slaves.."

    We have all been slaves to something. It is humbling to be reminded of this.

    annie c

    ReplyDelete

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