SEPTEMBER 23 "A BRUISED REED HE WILL NOT BREAK"

"A bruised reed he shall not break, and a smoldering  wick he will not snuff out".  This is GREAT STUFF, great poetry, but it certainly is not us! In Football, we cut the weakest players, in Marine Corps Boot camp, you weed out the weak and in the corporate world, you fire or ax the weak and move on with the strong. The weak, put them in a home, the disabled, hire someone to take care of them, confused & depressed people.....I  don't know isn't there a drug you can give them, sedate them, anything, as long as we don't have to deal with day in and day it, give me a break!! There is nothing more frustrating than a smoldering wick, especially when you really do need that light, the electricity is off, you're trying to get some help, some light and that wick is flickering, spitting out more irritation than light; you and I both know, if that wick doesn't catch on soon we may just throw the wick and the candle, in the trash, after we snuff it out!  And that's how we treat people. That is who we are! Nothing more draining than the weak. Whether that's weak people in the Church or a weak and fragile grandmother or even perhaps are own mother and/or father. I currently know of a family that is having to deal with the aging and mental deterioration of an elderly mother and the kids are constantly squabbling over "who's turn it is to watch over her". Sometimes the fighting only ends in fighting, nothing is resolved and the elderly, disabled mother is left alone. Paul in his epistles brings this up, "don't despise the weak", he warns. Most teachers have no patience with that child that doesn't learn as fast as the rest of the students in her/his class. That teacher can and I have seen in my experience, begin to resent that slow learner, stupid kid! We are not impressed with the weak, the slow, the not so intelligent, the not so "lovely". Weak, slow and unattractive people, repel humanity. They are the Lepers of our society today. Even in our churches you will find, those that are attractive, sharp and witty, will get more attention and better follow up than perhaps, ....the Leper. A bruised week we will yank out of the ground and make room for something healthy to grow. This scripture in Isaiah is not us! It's Jesus, but it's not you. You think it's you, perhaps you dabble a little here and there with the weak....., trying giving your life to it and see how well you do! If we are not careful, the Church of Jesus Christ, just like the world, becomes "survival of the fittest"  i.e: those that are strong will make it and lock into the church and have a great future and those that are weak will fall away, only to go on and self destruct while The Church moves on it's merry way, singing "Lord, I wanna be more like you".

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