Excerpt from Isaiah 3:1-15

"What do you mean by crushing my people, by grinding the face of the poor? says the Lord God of hosts."

Reflection by Donna Schaper

I was filling up the car with gas.  When I put the pump back, I realized that I had oil and grease all over my hands.  Whoever had previously filled had spilled. There was a greasy oily something on my hands, under my fingernails and achieving access to my clothes and car.  I completely over-reacted and went looking for who might have done this.  No one was to be found.  Thus I improvised.  I washed my hands but the grease abided.  I wrapped my hand in a paper towel and drove on. I didn't want the grease all over the car.  Nor do I want it all over the Gulf of Mexico.  But I can't seem to figure out whether the government or big business or both are responsible for the spill that is becoming all our spills. After I looked around and failed to find a slob to blame, I carried on.   The grease didn't come out from under my fingernails for days.

There are way too many ways to be poor.  One is to lose a clean ocean or its livelihood.  Someone said that it is now the ocean that sits at the "back of the bus."  The BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico has been compared to 9 – 11 in its seepage.  I agree.  The only problem is that the oil is also on my hands and in my car's fuel tank.

Prayer

O God, when we wish we could find the right person to blame and sock it to them, remind us of our own participation in the grinding and the seepage.  Amen.

About the Author Donna Schaper is the Senior Minister of Judson Memorial Church in New York City. Her latest work is 20 Ways to Keep Sabbath, from The Pilgrim Press. Check out her work at www.judson.org.

The Daily Devotional is now on Facebook. Become a fan!

Sign up to receive Daily Devotionals

More items written by the Stillspeaking Writers' Group