Issue 242
Based on Deuteronomy 22:1-4
Have you noticed that work affords you many opportunities to watch people struggle? You can be carrying on your own business and come across someone who has stalled in their career or just doesn’t seem to be able to solve a problem. It is as if they have tripped up, fallen over, or simply cannot carry the responsibility they have.
This may of course be a crisis moment which, although extremely difficult, will not last long – especially if the right help is at hand. At other times it may be a habitual difficulty which has a chronic expression.
The image on the road of compassion is that of a man whose means of production (an ox or donkey) has fallen. The owner is struggling to lift the animal up to its feet. It is a picture of a workload that is too hard for one person. It is an incident where the owner will suffer severe loss and damage to his business, and it may even be a threat to his livelihood if this situation continues.
Before we jump to a conclusion, it is worth pointing out that these real-world situations are not always simple. Suppose helping will delay you for an important meeting and damage your day? Suppose helping will cover up a mess, which will come back to contaminate you. Suppose the kind of help needed is to be brutally honest and encourage a person to a radical course of action?
What if helping damages not only your day but your career, finances and prospects? Sometimes help is no help at all and just perpetuates struggle.
The road to compassion is lined with signposts. In the original account, the signpost simply says, ‘do not ignore it’. It is the avoidance of involvement which is challenged. The type of help needed will be determined by the type of problem encountered. The writing on the signposts stays the same, however: ‘do not ignore’. There are a whole variety of slogans written about the consequences of ‘when good people do nothing’. The road to compassion is a road where people don’t climb to the summit and leave others to die in the snow. It is a road where people do get involved – even if it costs and even if the cure is painful. It is the same road that brought a Carpenter to a wooden cross.
Deuteronomy 22:1-4
1 If you see your brother’s ox or sheep straying, do not ignore it but be sure to take it back to him. 2 If the brother does not live near you or if you do not know who he is, take it home with you and keep it until he comes looking for it. Then give it back to him. 3 Do the same if you find your brother’s donkey or his cloak or anything he loses. Do not ignore it. 4 If you see your brother’s donkey or his ox fallen on the road, do not ignore it. Help him get it to its feet.
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Geoff Shattock
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