Today’s Scripture Reading (September
21, 2012): Deuteronomy 22
In my end of
the world, winter is on its way. Winter comes with it inordinate amounts of
cold and snow. And when you live in places that receive snow, you usually have
snow removal laws. And there are generally three types of people that live in
these snow cities. One is the person that keeps his walks and driveway
absolutely clear. This person actually is my next door neighbour. His walks and
driveway in the dead of winter are amazing. I mean, not only does he clear the
snow off of his walks, but he grooms the snow around his walks. Last winter I
thought I would do him a favor and shovel some of his snow. And he came out and
gave me the look that said – “Thanks, Garry, but I have this. You just are not
doing it right.”
The second
group of people are the ones that just do not care about the snow, the snow
removal law or their sidewalks. These are the people that when you are walking
down the street and you come to their property, it is just simpler to just move
off of the sidewalk and walk on the road.
The last
group (and these are my brothers and sisters) are the ones that work hard at
snow removal but often seem to fall short. My problem is that the sun comes up
and melts the snow which runs out on my sidewalk and the melted snow then
freezes, making it harder to shovel the next day. So we work hard at shoveling our
walks but it never quite gets as clear as we feel it should be. (By the way,
this is a problem that my neighbor just does not have.)
Last winter,
one of my sisters in shoveling decided to stop the process. When the police
approached her to give her a final warning before issuing a ticket, her
response was that with all the ice from the constant melting and freezing, her
walks were safer to walk on if she left the snow where God had placed it. I
think she received a ticket, but she also had the right idea. The snow removal
law is all about making the sidewalks safe to walk on. And hers might have been
safer with the snow.
My reaction
every time I read this passage of the law is to ask what someone is doing on my
roof. It is not something that we generally have to worry about. But the roof
over history has seemed to have been a place of meeting. And if people were up
there, they needed to be kept safe. And, just like with my winter sidewalks, it
is our responsibility biblically to keep them safe.
The moral of
the law is simply this. No matter what Cain thought in Genesis 4, we really are
our brother’s keeper. Their life should matter to us – and we should do
whatever it is that we can to keep them safe.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading:
Deuteronomy 23
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