Read: Matthew 13:36-43
It is bewildering to wonder why good and bad people are able to co-exist in the world. I am writing this on the day following the cold-blooded assault on the worship of people in a Manchester Synagogue on the Jewish Holy Day of Yom Kippur. Today’s reading from the gospel sheds light on how Jesus Christ saw it.
Jesus says that a mixture of us derive variously from God and the Devil. He also implies that if a sort out happens too soon there is a risk of misidentification and so, prosaically, we must await harvest time before the weeds are burned. Does that help? No, not in the emotion of the moment but with hindsight it reminds us of balance and that it is rare for situations or people to be polarised around good or evil. There are muddles, gradations in the measures and much middle ground.
How do you think? I have always understood that a weed is just a plant in the wrong place, but more recently I have realised that we sometimes need to rethink right and wrong places. I went for a walk this week and crossed the river Deben at a dear little ford that I have known since my schooldays. The water was clear, plants grew in the water and there was vegetation of all sorts on the banks and in the meadow beyond. Much of the greenery I would once have called weed but I see it differently now.
An idyllic country scene or a mess?
This does not help cope with the scandal of cold-blooded hatred but it does explain why it is not always possible to see who will turn to evil.
A Prayer
God of Love and Justice, I am perplexed by why good and evil co-habit but I know that differentiating is risky. Give me the grace to accept that you are the only just judge who sees and knows all, and the patience to await your judgement in your good time. I ask it for the sake of the teacher of truth, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.