Today’s blog uses the Reformed Church reading for the day along with aheadline from world news
Kim Jong-un rides a horse his starving people would gladly eat
symbol of power
Micah 7:7-15
New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition (NRSVACE)
7 But as for me, I will look to the Lord, I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.
Penitence and Trust in God
8 Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me. 9 I must bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him, until he takes my side and executes judgement for me. He will bring me out to the light; I shall see his vindication. 10 Then my enemy will see, and shame will cover her who said to me, ‘Where is the Lord your God?’ My eyes will see her downfall;[a] now she will be trodden down like the mire of the streets.
Dalai Lama, patient opposition to Chinese policies
This passage might be a comfort to those persecuted people who oppose the ruleof Kim Jong -Un and the aged mad generals who control him. At present there is no sign that this regime which has invested in a huge army to secure itself against its own people but pretends it is for the defense of Korea against the West, is ripe for destruction. Any opposition has been ruthlessly put down, by imprisonment, torture and murder.
In such a situation the wise person holds to her purpose quietly-as Aung San Ssu Kyi did in Burma, as the opposition has done in Tibet. She may recognise her own part in the suffering that has come on the people. But most of all she will learn to wait, in pain and patience, knowing that God takes the side of the oppressed and will one day bring about the downfall of oppressors. The fact that God will execute the judgment does not mean that the oppressed people will be passive. Rather, at the right time, their opposition will be effective.
The passage emphasises that the oppressed will “see” the fall of the oppressor and will be able to rejoice in his humiliation. This fierce joy in ultimate justice may not seem very Christian but both Old and New Testaments respect it. Those who never been subject to humiliation cannot imagine the liberating laughter of those who have been rescued from it.
Stubborn, peaceful, opposition that endures suffering while holding its beliefs in justice, peace and goodness, may not sound glamorous or even courageous, but time and again it has proven effective. It is a way which can be used by those in the UK and other capitalist societies by oppressed, impoverished minorities and their allies. One day we’ll see who laughs last!
ARTOS=BREAD (In the original Greek of the Prayer of Jesus, Luke 11). Here it stands for the community of readers who are saying the prayer at the start of each day.
Father
may your name be kept holy
may your kingdom come.
Give us today the bread we need
and forgive us the wrongs we have done
as we forgive those who have wronged us.
And do not bring is into hard testing.
The first three lines of the prayer speak to the Father; the next four speak to the Spirit; while the whole is the prayer of God’s Son offered as a prayer of God’s children. It is a small map of the Christian Way.
Compared with say, the people of North Korea, I’ve had an easy life, for which I’m very grateful, but recently I have been subject to testing that’s been hard for me. I can testify to two truths:
1. It’s good not to have to pretend: the prayer explicitly mentions hard testing, and allows one to say without shame, “Yeah, this hurts.”
2. Trust in the God who delivers people from evil keeps one from giving up.
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