What is done to the least… Sheep and Goats?

Bobby-Henry,-Srpins-THIS-ONWhat is done to the least… Sheep and Goats?

And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.      Matthew 25:40 (NKJV)

By Bobby R. Henry, Sr.

When a so-called country like the United States can look at the injustices perpetrated on its own soil, upon its own countrymen/women, and there is not an determined outcry for swift, equal and unwavering justice, then this country is exhibiting characteristics of one built upon hypocritical doctrine.

There is no sensitivity to hurting humanity. Even dogs get treated with much more congeniality than Black people.

There still exists a forced relationship of servility as it pertains to the Black American for the white American and this is not an “alternative fact”.

I’m reminded of the story in Matthew 25:31-46 when Jesus is teaching about “the judgment of nations.” It talks about how the nations are divided up and classified and separated as sheep and goats. The sheep are those that are responsive to the pains and mistreatments of others while the goats are indifferent to the sufferings of others.

Even though there are written prescriptions for those of us who want to sheep-feed the hungry; give water to the thirsty; care for strangers; clothe the naked; tend to the sick and visit those in prison, these actions call for us to be communal and hospitable, not to show antisocial behaviors toward one another.

I see and recognize behaviors that are popping up faster than gentrification in the urban cities of this country, in semblance to the mousetrap story.

The mouse trap story: A farm mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package. What he thought might have been food was a mouse trap; the mouse was devastated. The delirious mouse went running through the farmyard shouting out the warning, “there’s a mousetrap in the house!”

The chicken, bewildered, clucked, scratched, and then raised her head and said, ‘Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is of grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it.’

The mouse, now more agitated, turned to the hog and told him, ‘There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!’ The hog snorted and showing sympathy, said, “I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it and went happily back to his mud pool. But I will be thinking of you.” The mouse turned to the cow, tears in his baggy eyes saying, ‘There-is-a-mousetrap-in-the-house! There-is-a-mousetrap in-the-house!’ The cow said, “Wow, Mr. Mouse. I’m sorry for you, but it’s no skin off my nose; moooo out the way.” So, the mouse, head down, rejected, tears rolling down his face, returned to the house to face the farmer’s mousetrap . . . alone.

That night while the mouse tossed and turned with anxiety, the deafening sound of a mousetrap, snapping and catching its prey, was heard throughout the house. The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she couldn’t see the poisonous snake whose tail was caught in the trap. When she reach down to get the trap, the snake bit her. The farmer rushed her to the hospital; she returned home with a fever. To treat the fever the farmer needed some fresh chicken soup, so he took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup’s main ingredient. The mouse could hear the chicken’s last cackle. His wife’s sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer had to butcher the hog. The farmer’s wife did not get well, succumbing to the snake’s poisonous venom.  Many people came to the funeral so the farmer slaughtered the cow to feed all of them. The small frightened mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.

Social responsibility is a necessary response for God’s people. When we are sensitive to the pains and afflictions of others and we come to their aid to try and elevate their discomfort, we are doing what God has asked us to do. We are comforted so that we may comfort others.

So, when you see or hear that someone is being treated discriminatorily and think it’s not your concern, remember —– when one of us is defenseless and suffers because of it, we are all at risk. In this journey called life, we need each other because we never know what can happen when the trap is sprung.

“Dear God, in the name of Jesus please teach me how to come to the aid of others who are caught in the traps of life. Amen.”

GOD DOESN’T SEE STATURE OR STATUS; HE SEES HIS CHILDREN IN NEED

About Carma Henry 24363 Articles
Carma Lynn Henry Westside Gazette Newspaper 545 N.W. 7th Terrace, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33311 Office: (954) 525-1489 Fax: (954) 525-1861

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