I honestly had no idea how I was going to take a picture symbolizing injustice while on vacation. We paid for our equipment rental and a lift ticket, we spent almost an hour getting our ski boots and struggling to get them on, and we spent another half hour waiting in line only to be told that they had run out of skis and poles - injustice! In the age of technology that we live in you would think that their rental computer system would have inventory information built into it and prevent this sort of situation from happening. And even without that capability you would think that one of the rental employees would have warned the cashiers that inventory was getting low. Of course, my first reaction was the be very angry - I had wasted all of that time and effort and our friends had come in from out of state specifically for a ski trip. When we went back to the register to get refunded the cashier presented Tubing tickets as an alternative activity. So, we bought the tubing tickets and headed over to Tube Park to make the best of our day despite their ineptitude. As we approached Tube Park my only thought was "Ok, the big guy upstairs is just playing a joke on us today!" We had essentially just paid for all-day sledding passes - we were surrounded by children and looking at a hill that only someone younger than 10 years old could consider exciting. Needless to say, the first day of our Ski Trip was a bust.
And then I thought to myself - How blessed am I that this is the worst case of injustice that I have to deal with today?
Injustice is rampant throughout the world, throughout our country, and even throughout our communities. It would literally be impossible to list the injustices that I alone have witnessed throughout my life - and I'm not that old and not that well-traveled! Injustice is one of the reasons why I cast off Christianity as the opium of the masses for so many of my adolescent and early-adult years. I couldn't understand how a loving, parent-figure God could allow the injustices that plague the world to occur - let alone endure. It wasn't until I read A Case for Faith and The Shack that I could truly begin to reconcile those two truths. To be honest, I still have days when I struggle with what seems to be a lack of needed logic in the Christian faith. But I ask myself, "Does not a parent allow their children to make mistakes so they can grow from them?" "Do we ever truly appreciate happiness and blessing without experiencing sadness and hardship?" And I remind myself of one of my favorite Bible passages, the Beatitudes:
Matthew 5:3-12
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
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