The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made.” vs. 9
Psalm 145:8-9
These few words from the psalmist contain all the truth that we humans will ever need to hear, and it’s undoubtedly the best news ever, yet we find it enormously hard to believe in our hearts. Oh, we don’t mind hearing that the Lord is good to us, and that God’s compassion includes us. We actually welcome that good news, but we are reluctant to acknowledge that this gracious message is addressed to the “other,” all those folks who have managed to make it onto our naughty list. Through most of our lives our minds have become adept at such exclusion and we use a long list of categories that separate ourselves from others: race, religion, politics, criminality, poverty, refugees, the list goes on and on. We can, on our good days, acknowledge that folks of other races or religions might be loved by God, but for most of us, there is a definite line which is drawn between the “ins” and “outs,” and we’re hard-pressed to think of anything good that might be said about those on the other side of the line. That dualistic thinking, in which we have been trained from our childhoods, keeps us from celebrating the inclusive, all-encompassing love of God. But that’s not the way God is! We are all good, and we are all broken, and God has compassion for us all!
Thought for the Day: What categories of people are on my naughty list?
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