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VIOLENCE
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Theological Reflection: In 1 Corinthians 12 Paul talks of the human body being made up of many parts each having a specific role if the whole is to work properly. The ear, eye and hand, as well as other parts, all need each other. He extrapolates this to consider the way each of us has a part to play in the body of Christ; interconnected - needing and relying on each other to work properly. He then points out “If one part suffers, all suffer together with it” (v26). We know that to be true when one part of our own body hurts – that ear-ache that makes it hard to concentrate on even the simplest task, the migraine that sends us to lie down in a darkened room before we are fit to do anything, the stubbed toe that halts us in our tracks. But what of the wider body? Why are we not permanently howling in pain? The suffering in our world, the damage done to fellow human beings at the violent hands of others, also ‘human’, is colossal. Yet we hear of it and mostly it passes us by. We might momentarily flinch at a news story, we might throw up a quick prayer for a troubled part of the world, but how much are we really in touch with, and sharing in, the suffering? We visit the doctor or chemist for relief when part of our own body is in pain. What action are we taking to heal the pain of other people in this world? How can we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land? How can we sing the Lord’s song when women’s hopes of decent work and new life are dashed by a trail of lies and deceit? But it is there, there that we must sing the Lord’s song. And You, O Lord, are in the midst of us.
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