Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
I was sitting in the break room talking with a friend that just migrated back north for the summer. She told us of the place where she had stayed down south. It was right on the ocean, and they encouraged dolphins to stay near the shore because the sharks stay away from them. Somehow, never sure how, we started talking about how some animals sharks, in particular, will look for the weak and wounded and attack them. I have to confess I was lost for the rest of the conversation because I was thinking about how sometimes we, as people are not that much different than the sharks. We don’t attack someone strong, but the poor, the defenseless, the new person at work, one who has no way to fight back. I have to confess, I was nauseated and saddened at the thought. I know that, sometimes, I have been guilty of doing the same thing. I had to stop right there and ask forgiveness for those times because I know God says to defend the helpless, look after the poor and needy, to be a friend to the friendless. I tuned back in as she was saying that dolphins would try to help the people. If they are swimming and get into trouble, the dolphins will signal lifeguards that the person is in distress. Wow! A lesson from the dolphin. That is exactly how God wants us to respond as Christians. He wants us to look out for those around us. Not just the Christians, but the non-Christian as well. He wants us to have compassion on them, to be their voice, to protect the ones who can’t protect themselves.
