Act of Kindness: A Great Christian Virtue

Many of us must have read Micah 6:8 many times where it reads “He has showed you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”  In reflection I am reminded of a beautiful story told by somebody which can be taken as a real incident which might happen anywhere in India.

An old man, stooped over and leaning on a battered cane, was moving along the sidewalk of a street.  Strings of scarecrow-like hair poked out from under a battered ballcap that he wore at an odd angle.  The cap seemed to be a prized possession because he kept clutching at it each time the autumn breeze tried to snatch it away. His face was pinched into a permanent grimace. Each step took great effort, as though his joints were in dire need of lubrication, but there was something in his pain-racked shuffle that summoned attention.

In the cluster of office-workers scurrying to and from lunchtime appointments, he stood out. No one actually stopped to speak to him or even paused to give him a smile, but everyone took note of him.  The brisk breeze swirling eddies of dust along the avenue suddenly gusted, catching the peak of the old man’s ballcap. It took off like a kite. His mouth wrenched open as his free hand clawed up to grab it, but his arthritic bones could not move fast enough. In his frantic and jerky effort, he almost lost his footing, but then latched onto the cane with both hands to steady his balance.  While he watched the wind do its thing, his eyes echoed a sorrow that emanated from deep inside a canyon of memory. The cap rode a strong current for twenty feet or so, and then came tumbling down in the street to join an assortment of discarded fast-food wrappers and other bits of garbage being swept along the edge of the curb. He went after it in his hunched over stutter-stepping kind of way, but it distanced itself from him in rapidly increasing increments.

A forlorn cry escaped his throat as he tried to hurry.  In his haste he began bumping into people, muttering apologies as he stayed focused on the direction the wind was taking his treasure.  People continued to notice him, but it was as though his distress was invisible.  Despite the old man’s thrashing progress through the crowd, everyone managed to keep pace with his or her deadlines and schedules.  After several blocks of frenzied pursuit, his chest was heaving and beginning to hurt.  Little threads of pain were tightening into a thick, hard knot just behind his breastbone.  His breath was coming in short gasps; his hair was matted with sweat.  He teetered to a faltering stop.  He realized there was no chance of recapturing the ballcap.

A rasping wheeze of a groan choked out of him as his body sagged in defeat.  His shoulders sank even lower than before.  Tears glistened on his weathered cheeks as he looked into the faces of passing strangers, silently pleading and motioning for help.  No one came to his assistance; not a single, solitary person reached out with compassion or kindness.  Even though surrounded by many, many eyewitnesses he was utterly alone in his predicament.  Whatever affection or remembrance he had attached to that ragged ballcap became a deep sense of loss that the old man would be left to grieve over all by himself.

Were there any Christians on the sidewalk that watched the drama unfold without being moved to action? Were they all too busy, too self-absorbed and too preoccupied? Had they perfected the art of pretending not to see?  If the answer to any of those questions is yes, that is tragic.  Too often kindness is a sparse commodity in our communities and neighborhoods, but for those who follow Christ, routine kindness should be automatic. I wonder why that is not always the case?

The basic question we need to ask as a Church is what are we up to in our mission of justice and peace if we are not kind to each other? In our quest for holiness, have we, as a Church, lost sight of the fundamental basics of kindness? Have we become so enthralled by our programs or so consumed by worship wars that we’ve forgotten the profound urgency of kindness? In our desire to be culturally relevant have we forgotten the simple power of loving mercy?  Indeed, kindness is profoundly simple and simply profound. Scripture compels us to be actively involved in ongoing adventures of kindness.  In our context of justice and peace, a fair rendering of the concept of mercy or kindness is for us to be vigilant in following through on our commitment to be nice people who care for others. Jesus modeled this teaching in his life by meeting people at their exact point of need and ministered to them. We are to do likewise so that we can become the first-responders to the ordinary pain of the human condition as intended by God.

Kasta Dip

Let Justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

As Christians we serve a God who is Just and calls His people to do justice (Micah 6:8).  Justice matters. It is in our human bloodstream. Yes, every human being is made in God’s image and therefore has individual rights. Injustice is expressed when these rights are violated, God’s will is violated.

Nicholas Wolterstorff, a Reformed philosopher has written a masterful book, Justice: Rights and Wrongs in which he shows plainly that Scripture is concerned with individual rights. Contrary to the prevailing philosophy justice is not just some right ordering of society so that actions which bring the most good to society as a whole are to be desired. If individual rights are suppressed or denied in the process, it is not the justice God calls humanity to, not the justice he called Israel to, not the justice he calls the church to.  In his book Wolterstorff includes exegesis of passages in the prophets which point out that justice must not be denied to a poor person, or to the poor. In that notion we see the principle of individual rights. Of course individual rights as trumped by the world are at best a dim, and more often skewed image of this. Though there is a certain kind of tolerance which goes with living now, in the age of grace, when we are at best all recovering sinners. We tolerate others by receiving them as Jesus received everyone; as friends to whom he shared the message and love of God and God’s kingdom.

The passion for justice is an aspect of love. The first and greatest commandment is to love God with all our being and doing, and the second like it is to love our neighbor as ourselves. Jesus taught that all of God’s word hangs on those two commandments. James complained about believers who might shun a poor person, while favoring the rich in their assembly, and made it clear that this is not to be tolerated.

To stand up for justice means to not only speak out, but also to do what we can to help those who are treated unjustly. We are one humanity created by the same God, joined together through the new creation in Jesus.  We must follow the way of Jesus and defend the rights of all who are violated.

The passage from Amos (5:24) makes a fierce indictment against God's People. In it, God condemns our worship if doesn't serve justice. God says: "I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. . . Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream!

Kasta Dip

Manual Scavenging: A Social Injustice in India

The 20^th February will be observed as World Day of Social Justice.  In a country like ours, a meaningful observation of this day will be to identify the forms of injustice that are marginalizing people and making them lesser human.  Belonging to a Dalit community I have always thought that ‘untouchability’ is one form of injustice being experienced by millions of my fellow Dalits.  Despite the fact that the caste system has been abolished under India’s constitution in 1950, “untouchability” is still practiced, particularly in rural areas. Communities allocate work they consider the most menial to outcast Dalits.  Dalits are made to clean the human excreta manually and thus they are discriminated against.  Manual scavenging is a deep rooted prejudice against Dalits on whom the hierarchical caste Hindu society has thrust this obnoxious occupation only because they are born into this isolated social group. The Indian Constitution, in fundamental Rights Part-III and Directive Principles of State Policy Part-IV has inscribed the right to life with equality, dignity of individual and social justice to every person. Article 17 emphasizes the ideology of abolition of untouchability. It says that “Untouchability” is abolished and its practice in any form is forbidden. The enforcement of any disability arising out of "Untouchability" shall be an offence punishable in accordance with law.

To ensure that the fundamental rights are properly protected and for its enforcement, the Constitution has conferred on the Supreme Court and High Courts of India the power to grant most effective remedies whenever such rights are violated. The Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 is one of the major legislation to establish a democratic and egalitarian society and absence of all kinds of disabilities particularly the rights of Dalit''s community. The very purpose of the Act is to curb the various kind of disability while (religious & social) preaching and practice of untouchability the law provide punishment. The Act provides enough measures which may necessary for ensuring that the rights from the abolition of untouchability or made available to, and are availed of by the persons subject to any disability arising out of "Untouchability." The State governments are empowered to take all necessary action in pursuance of aims and object of the Act.  It also incorporates provisions that every offence under this Act shall be treated as a cognizable offence and tried summarily by a Judicial Magistrate of the first class or Metropolitan Magistrate as the case may be.

To make things more stringent, the Parliament stepped in and made The Schedule Castes and The Schedule Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989 with the object to prevent the commission of offences of atrocities against the members of Schedule Castes and Schedule Tribes to provide for special courts for the trial of such offences and for the relief and rehabilitation of the victims of such offences and related matters.  The Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrine (Prohibition) Act, 1993 resolute for the prohibition of employment of manual scavengers as well as construction or continuance of dry latrines and maintenance of water-seal latrines and matter connected therewith. The government has also passed the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 and engaged constantly to the issue of identification and rehabilitation of manual scavengers since its inception.

This is high time we as a church realized that manual scavenging is intensely offensive to health and human dignity. Without debating we must act and urge all concerned authorities, civil societies, and the state Governments to work with greater commitment and determination to implement the available Acts so as to ensure that the dehumanizing practice could be effectively stopped.  Church has to be more result-oriented to pool their resources together to ensure that practice of manual scavenging, a disgusting reality, is eradicated once for all.  Many movements and networks expressing their solidarity with the Dalits have been working hard to pressurize governments to abolish manual scavenging by 2010.  Let us be part of this movement and celebrate World Day of Social Justice!

Kasta Dip

Walking the road less traveled by: A New Year Challenge

As a student of literature, I was inspired most by a poem ‘The Road Not Taken’ by Robert Frost.  The last lines of the poem are:

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and 

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.”

In a situation like this, coming to different paths and after choosing one, we would always fret wondering what we might have missed by not taking the other path.  A close reading of the poem proves otherwise. It does not moralize about choice, but it simply says that choice is inevitable but we never know what our choice will mean until we have lived it.  Likewise, concern for justice, especially for the poor and the marginalised, has always been part of the mission of the church. But in Indian context I would say working for justice is a ‘road less traveled by.’ 

When we read Micah 6:6-8 it is clear from Scripture that justice matters, justice is defined in God's terms and not those of the political and economic left or right. We are called not only to feed the poor but also to ask why the poor have no food - and then to redress the cause of their poverty. The call is for justice, not just charity. To do justice is to know God (Jeremiah 22:16) and to reflect his holiness (Isaiah 5:16). As Christians we really have no option but to seek it, nor is the call to live justly an adjunct to faith. And that means placing our social and economic structures, our habits of being and patterns of consumption, our expectations and construal of "the good life" under the judgment of Scripture. But what is not as clear is what it means in concrete terms to live justly in our world. “To apply the biblical injunctions in a one to one correspondence to our social and economic structures and habits of being is to ignore the vast differences between the world of the Bible and our own world. It is also to fall prey to easy answers that only trivialize Scripture and further complicate the problems we seek to redress. What is needed is a careful listening to the intent and trajectories of the scriptural witness and a willingness to engage in serious interdisciplinary dialogue and praxis. And because the issues we face are so complex and spin such an elaborate web of interconnections, we will also find ourselves thrust upon God and each other for guidance, help and forgiveness.”  (Rev. Gary Hauch)

When we explore the Bible's teachings regarding the concern God has for the poor we discover that we all belong to a compassionate Kingdom big enough to include all the lost, oppressed, haggard, hungry, homeless, and dispossessed. As Christians we have all the resources we will ever need to release the burden of the poor.  The Bible gives us a snapshot of a God who is deeply moved by the poor. The prophet Isaiah contrasts Israel’s religious life with what God considers a truly righteous life. In chapter 58 He describes their tithing, sacrifices, keeping of the Sabbath and such as, the wrong kind of fast. What God wants, says the prophet, is true fasting, demonstrated in these behaviors: "To loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke. Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer shelter, when you see the naked to clothe him, and not turn away from your own flesh and blood..."

To bear faithful witness to God's justice in serving the poor will not be easy, but it is something we are not called to do alone, for He who calls also says, "Lo I am with you, even to the end of the age" (Matt 28:20).  When succeeded we will learn to give more generously, share more readily and live more simply.  In this New Year can we resolve to take this road less traveled by so that we can make a difference?

Kasta Dip