Want to learn something new today? Spend time with someone who has lived a bit. Like the people who live in retirement villages. If you're really lucky you might find someone who lived through the last world war or even someone who lived through the depression. These guys know stuff like you wouldn't believe.
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Take hardship for example. Some of us living in middle class suburbia just have no idea. Fuzzy TV reception, no Maccas within a 20 minute radius, the train is late (again), the local Coles/Woolies has run out of my favourite cheese, my i-whatzit is now obsolete because it came out last week and there's a new one out tomorrow. The list goes on.
We wonder whether our understanding of what hardship is could be so confused by our own cultural context that we just have no idea what people mean when they say they are refugees. Now that's another group of people who have a good idea of what hardship means. Like running for one's life because there's a (highly motivated) group out to (intentionally) kill/maim/torture/rape them.
We also wonder if our own government understands the situation. Just recently a Hazara claiming asylum was returned to Afghanistan. It appears he was then captured and tortured by militants. A bit of research will reveal that the Taliban is still at large in Afghanistan and has quite a thing for Hazaras. Our own DFAT has this to say of the country, "If you are in Afghanistan, you should consider leaving." It would be great comedy material if it wasn't so deadly serious.
For followers of Jesus, we should follow what is happening very closely. If we consider Jesus as our Lord and master, then we should be taking his words and teachings seriously. There's heavy stuff there about the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) and doing unto others as we would have done unto us (Luke 6:31).
There are those who say that the church and politics shouldn't mix. Fair enough, but we live in a democratic society and should feel free to let our elected representatives know if something weighing heavy on our hearts (or consciences).
Sources:
http://www.narrominenewsonline.com.au/story/2654900/government-to-investigate-torture-claims-of-deported-asylum-seeker-zainullah-naseri/?cs=8
http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/zw-cgi/view/Advice/Afghanistan
All brickbats, bouquets and banter welcome at narrominebaptist1@gmail.com
