"Imagine a small village next to a rushing river. One day, as the villagers are performing their daily duties, they hear the sound of crying. Horrified, they see a baby floating helplessly in the river. Some of the villagers immediately swim out to save the baby. They wrap him in warm blankets and give him food. The next day. the villagers rescue five more babies from the river. Day after day, they rescue more and more children from the river. They begin setting up stations to respond quickly to the disaster. One day, after yet more children are rescued from the raging river, a frustrated villager stands up and announces, "I am going upstream to find out who is putting these babies in the river, and I'm going to do something about it!"
"The villagers first — and necessary response of plucking helpless babies from the river, feeding them, and giving them shelter was charity. But they soon discovered that the problem was bigger; they began to realize that someone or something was putting these children there. They saw that their rescue efforts could go on indefinitely, but if they were to find the root of the problem and work to undo that perhaps they could prevent children from being tossed in the river in the first place." (Tracy Young, How Do I Make It Right? Faith Alive Christian Resources, 2010.)
Taking care of other people is our Biblical call. God engineered taking care of others into the depth of our being. That's why, when it's done right, it feels so satisfying. Let us love one another on a relational level. Let us help by appreciating the value that every created person can bring to a situation. Let us be exceptionally gracious. In all of our urgent work of loving our neighbor and meeting immediate needs let us not forget about our call to speak up for those who are oppressed.
