There’s a family that have moved close to us who have more than their fair share of social problems. Many of those problems have spilled into the lives of the children and we get to experience the violent and angry symptoms. The latest trend is riding up and down the street abusing people while kicking over rubbish tins.
This is not a new thing to us. We’ve lived with and around struggling people for a long period of time. I guess what escalates it in our minds is the simultaneous growth of gratuitous violence that we hear about in our major cities.
I’m not so sure I believe too much of social and political spin in relation to violence, because we are often told that statistically it’s no worse than it’s ever been. Likewise I’m not sure I trust the kaleidoscope of “how to solve the issue” ideas that erupt from time to time. I note with some interest that many of the “problem solvers” do so through long-range binoculars having never come into contact with troubled people themselves.
Like most individuals in the western world who have more material wealth than others on earth, I find myself hoping and occasionally praying that I’ll be able to make some kind of difference. Unfortunately such opportunities come round all too often and I find changing the world is going to be trickier than I thought. It might just require a degree of sacrifice on my part.
Jails, tougher sentences, the death sentence and removing kids from useless parents won’t reshape society. We all know that. Such thoughts just provide a kind of emotional feeling of justice and security. Societies only change when its people change. It has been written and quoted many times that “society heals through thousands of acts of random kindness.”
This coming Wednesday Christians around the world start the most important reflection/celebration season of the Christian year - Lent. Lent is a period of reflection on our own sinfulness and the needs of others. Not only do people fast from something important for 40 days, but they also open their eyes to the struggles of others and give generously. It’s not that this should only happen once a year, it’s a more a time to remind ourselves that this is the way of Christ. We don’t live in the hope that the state or the police will make the world a safer and more just place; we follow Christ to make it so in every act of kindness to a stranger in need.
The movie “Pay it Forward” caught that very idea in the life of a child who paid the ultimate price. It’s well worth a watch even if you’ve seen it before.
To quote a well worn cliché as we head toward Easter, “Don’t hope for change. Be the change.” An act of kindness to an angry rampaging teenager and his family is more effective than an equally violent response.
© Digby Wilkinson 2008