In my garden, every time I think I have finally pulled out all the weeds and defeated all the parasites, a new weed or a different bug appears. It seems to be a never-ending process. The same thing happens with my spiritual life. Every time I think I have overcome some shortcoming, a new one pops up.
Evidently, I'm not the only one. Occasionally, society congratulates itself on having overcome racism, only to find it popping back up in an various forms.
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, "We are called to play the Good Samaritan on life's roadside, but that will be only an initial act. One day the whole Jericho Road must be transformed so that men and women will not be beaten and robbed as they make their journey through life." In the fall 2005 Covenant Discipleship Quarterly,
I wrote about the difficulty of doing justice and included an addition to the
story of the Good Samaritan, detailing how he went back and helped make the road to Jericho safer. With that added scenario, the parable describes both kindness and justice.
Last summer, I wrote about exclusion and prejudice, but I'm writing about it again because we still struggle with these sins.
These are important issues that can be addressed with Sprouts groups. Racism and prejudice are a justice issues many children encounter every day. They are
also sins that the church must regularly confront. Your Sprouts group could learn how to be inclusive and how to confront bigotry and encourage your congregation to deal with this issue.
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