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Sunday, September 25, 2016

A Seven-Year-Old's Prayer For Justice

A friend recently gave me this quote, but couldn't remember where he had gotten it. Let me know if you know more about this young man.

"God, please help the poor get rich and the rich get poor, so they know what it feels like. And then, God, let everyone switch back to medium and let everyone have the same amount of food and money."                          
- Ben Zimmerly Jantzi, age 7

Children have an innate sense of fairness. Everyone should be treated alike, and enjoy their fair share of everything.

Somewhere along the way we adults seem to shed this simple concept, and begin to take for granted that "life isn't fair" and that we simply need to get used to it having huge disparities between the well off and the many "Lazarus" figures in the world. (see today's Luke 16:19-31 lectionary text)

But seven-year-old Ben is closer to seeing things the way God does. God has no favorites, and loves and cares for everyone alike.

We should too.

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