Newly defined life stage

My husband sent this New York Times article to me about a newly defined life stage. Thought you might find it interesting.

Comments?

Justice, Mercy, Wisdom and a Baby 2

Here's an aside: Among other things, Solomon was known for his wisdom...

from Kings 4: 29-34 (NAS)

"God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore. Solomon's wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the men of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. He was wiser than any other man... And his fame spread to all the surrounding nations. He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five. He described plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls. He also taught about animals and birds, reptiles and fish. Men of all nations came to listen to Solomon's wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom."

I'm searching through the references to Solomon to find the story of the baby. We think of it as a story about Solomon's wisdom but, I'm wondering, isn't it also about justice and mercy?

As I'm scrolling through reference after reference without finding the baby story I'm left to assume that Solomon is a VERY busy man. In the midst of all his magnificent glories and final choices, here's this story about the role his wisdom played in the lives of two prostitutes and the child of a prostitute. I doubt they were considered of any importance in ancient Hebrew culture yet their story was worth telling. Their story was part of God's story.

Kings 3: 16-28 (NAS)

"Then two women who were harlots came to the king and stood before him.

"The one woman said, "Oh, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house; and I gave birth to a child while she was in the house.

"It happened on the third day after I gave birth, that this woman also gave birth to a child, and we were together. There was no stranger with us in the house, only the two of us in the house.

"This woman's son died in the night, because she lay on it.

"So she arose in the middle of the night and took my son from beside me while your maidservant slept, and laid him in her bosom, and laid her dead son in my bosom.

"When I rose in the morning to nurse my son, behold, he was dead; but when I looked at him carefully in the morning, behold, he was not my son, whom I had borne."

"Then the other woman said, "No! For the living one is my son, and the dead one is your son." But the first woman said, "No! For the dead one is your son, and the living one is my son." Thus they spoke before the king."

"Then the king said, "The one says, 'This is my son who is living, and your son is the dead one'; and the other says, 'No! For your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.'"

"The king said, "Get me a sword." So they brought a sword before the king."

'The king said, "Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other."

'Then the woman whose child was the living one spoke to the king, for she was deeply stirred over her son and said, "Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him." But the other said, "He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him!"

'Then the king said, "Give the first woman the living child, and by no means kill him. She is his mother."

"When all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had handed down, they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice."

Everyone marveled at Solomon's wisdom. That's clear. Maybe, given Solomon's background, he even brought a lot of personal empathy to the table. But the fact that God used these three insignificant people and their story made it into God's collection says something about what God considers important. It speaks of wisdom and justice and mercy. But doesn't it speak volumes about God's love?

I don't recall praying with my children saying, you can ask God for anything but if you want to make God very very happy, pray for wisdom.

Justice, mercy, wisdom, and a baby 1

from Matthew 12: 15 -21 (NIV)

"Aware of this [the Pharisees plotted to kill him], Jesus withdrew from that place. Many followed him, and he healed all their sick, warning them not to tell who he was. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

'Here is my servant whom I have chosen,
the one I love, in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
and he will proclaim justice to the nations.
He will not quarrel or cry out;
no one will hear his voice in the streets.
A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out,
till he leads justice to victory.
In his name the nations will put their hope.'"

This phrase is interesting: Justice can't win by it's own self. God's servant- chosen, loved, His Father's delight, Spirit-filled - Jesus will lead justice to victory.

And apparently, by the grace of God, it's possible to proclaim something without quarreling or crying out, without breaking those who are already bruised or putting out a wick that's already smoldering.

And the nations will put their hope in one such as Him.

Didn't want to talk about justice without Jesus. :-)

Westerns and justice

Another meager thought on justice. (I thought I blogged about this in '05 but maybe not).

Old westerns. I think one of the strongest themes in old westerns was justice. All the shooting and negative race relations run counter to all that compassionate people stand for. I'm not talking about that. Whether it's possible to look at westerns without those elements, I don't know. But if you're looking for stories about good and bad, right and wrong looking at the westerns where the conflict is more between cowboys than about Manifest Destiny or stories where heroes from different people groups have to work together to resolve conflict, the justice theme is strong.

It is possible, by the way, to take a less than perfect curriculum and use the information someone else has already gathered (history, news, movements, issues, etc. . .) and use it to teach the things you want to teach. Encourage discussion. Encourage young people to examine ideas, history, and the ideas that motivated groups of people to do what they did and look at the fruit (good and bad) and weigh it against what they know about God and His word.

There are a lot of social injustices out there that many of us know nothing about. What do we do with what we know? Do I have a responsibility to respond? If so, how?

Might be interesting to study a book of the Bible that particularly deals with justice and then take a curriculum like Just Choices and examine the similarities and differences.

Just Choices: Social Justice Issues

This seems to be an interesting resource for people working with children (grades 6-12) and social justice issues. I don't know if it's just animal related or not. I ran across it and don't know much about it.