“No Other People is as Wise and Prudent as This Great Nation”
“No other people is as wise and prudent as this great nation.”
With these words, taken from our first reading today, Moses promised the people of Israel that this is how they would be regarded by other nations if they kept the commandments that they had been given by God.
I wonder whether the same could be said for the modern state of Israel, or for our own country or, for that matter, any country in the world today?
Whether we look at the United States, at Russia, at North Korea, at our European neighbours, at China, nowhere does wisdom or prudence seem to be very much in evidence.
Wisdom is in short supply wherever nations are more concerned in extending their influence and power over others than they are in ensuring that all their citizens have access to the necessities of life.
Prudence is in short supply wherever nations are exploiting their natural resources beyond their sustainable capacity, and where nations collectively are failing to deal with, or even acknowledge, the mounting crises of climate change, loss of biodiversity, and pollution.
What, you might wonder, has this got to do with the “the commandments of the Lord your God just as I lay them down for you”?
Well, quite a lot, I think.
We may think that the 10 commandments and the vast number of other elements of the Jewish law as detailed in the bible or through tradition (613 of them!) are mainly or only concerned with individual behaviour. But that would be to misunderstand them. Of course, they do apply to individuals, but they also apply to how societies should work. The 10 commandments, especially, have social as well as individual implications.
Adultery, for example, is condemned not just as a personal sin, but because it threatens the stability of the family unit; lying is condemned because it threatens social cohesion; honouring parents is important because it symbolises the obligations that one generation has to others.
If our society could live according to these laws, then maybe our country would be
considered by others to be “wise and prudent”!
Notices
Our next PCC Meeting is today immediately after Mass, so please take note.
Please be reminbed that we are launching the Boys’ Brigade and Girls Association in September, so please pick a form at the back of the church or speak to Susan.
We need a person to volunteer as our Children’s Champion, if you would like to take up this role, please speak to Susan.
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