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stations:see

July 5, 2009

Posted in: stations:awaken, the gathering

SEE

Then those ’sheep’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about?  When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, or see you thirsty and give you a drink?  When did we ever see you a stranger and show you hospitality?  When did we ever see you naked and give you our clothes?  And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to visit you?’  Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to one of the least, someone overlooked or ignored, that was Me—you did it to Me.’  Matthew 25:37-40

Even if our eyes are being opened, how can we see the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the prisoner, if we are not putting ourselves in places where they are?  How am I reorienting my life and my location so I am crossing paths with the overlooked and ignored, so I can see them?

Once we look into the eyes of “the other,” we cannot stop there?  In the Scripture, the King doesn’t respond to the seeing as much as the doing?  What are you doing?

In the video clip and throughout the movie (Holly, 2006), Patrick is struggling with the tension of how to respond to the brokenness and injustice he sees around him.  Do I need more souvenirs?  Do the souvenirs perpetuate the problem?  Do I pay to rescue a girl from slavery, knowing the money will be used to buy more girls and continue the abuse?

Who is “the other” or what is the injustice you are seeing?  What tensions are you holding as you attempt or desire to respond to the injustice?  With whom are you sharing this burden or tension, so they can help you imagine and create restoration and a new way forward?