I wonder if you were given the lesson at school or by your parents about how to cross the road: stand on the pavement, look left, look right, and then look left again; and, if clear, proceed with caution, awareness, and without dawdling, to cross the road. If the road is not clear, repeat all the steps.
Recently, I watched this exercise fail miserably. On the way to the office, I stopped at a four-way stop and watched a mother, after following the process, step out into the road holding the hand of her child, possibly four years old. Then a passenger conveyance vehicle came straight through the stop sign and narrowly missed the two, with the wide-eyed mother frantically pulling her child out of danger.
I made sure the mother and child were safely across, and then I (sorry) chased the taxi, which had already gone straight through the next stop sign. I caught up to the taxi when traffic forced him to stop, and I blocked his lane, got out, and went and ‘knocked’ on his window. When he nonchalantly rolled down his window, turned down his music, and looked at me enquiringly, all I could initially think to say was, ‘Did you not see the child?’
The question, ‘Did you not see…?’ has been going around in my head and heart, as I have seen hollow-eyed, scared children and babies clinging to their mother in an immigration centre; I have seen a queue so quickly form, with pleas and cries from folk to ‘see me’ for just a piece of bread; I see young adults, children ‘saluting’ me as they recognise uniform and a smile; I see on the news over-loaded vehicles crashing, and I want to knock on windows and cry out, ‘Did you not see…?’
Do you not see the anxiety in South Africa as hurtful activity takes place? Do you not see the empty seats in corps and churches? Do you not see the unemployed, the homeless, the abused, the hurt…? Do you not see the children now forced to survive where they should still be protected? Do you not see, not just on the news but in your community, in your commute to work, to study… do you see?
Did you not see…? Matthew 25:36 to 40 (ESV), Jesus is teaching: ‘I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
Do you see? I pray you will look left and right and look again to see your family, community, corps folk, neighbours, others, and then respond as a good person, a follower of Jesus, a Salvationist. I pray we will see for Him.