At times we have trouble discerning a course of action. We get caught up in our daily living and focus on what is best for us. At other times we purposely ignore the needs around us. After all, paying attention might force us to take action: take a stand or make a sacrifice.
Other times we purposely turn our face because we no longer feel compassion or because we cannot be agents of God’s love in the world. At these times, we are so far from living justly that we are now—through commission or omission—part of the problem, an agent of the forces of wickedness as the psalmist so aptly tells us.
The psalmist notes that God calls this reality to our attention. Even within the divine council, God calls to accountability those under God’s lordship. It turns out that God reminds us of the expected fruits: justice, compassion, salvation, and deliverance.
What would happen if we stepped back and asked if our way of life favored those who oppress the poor and needy? What if we stepped back to take stock of our life and to assess the ways we live up to God’s calling on our lives? In what ways do we live up to the standards and measures that God has set for us?
This week we have an opportunity to pay attention. Let us look around and keep God’s standard before us. Our simple consciousness will afford multiple opportunities to be agents of God’s love, bearing fruit in the way that we attend to the least, the last, and the lost.