Treasures from the Sea

Gospel: Matthew 13: 47-53

One of the great discoveries of human ingenuity and creativity has been our ability to find value and worth in things we once thought to be useless and trash.  We pull things out of the sea - an old tire, plastics, and all sorts of things.  We make tree swings out of old tires and recycle old tires to make new ones.  We do the same with plastics and even burn garbage to create electricity.  We have discovered that everything has value and use.

We say that we believe in the intrinsic worth and dignity of the human person. We say every person has value and great potential, and yet our actions do not correspond to these stated beliefs.  We continue to execute people, malign and marginalize refugees, immigrants, the mentally ill, and the poor.  We perpetuate two-tiered education systems to maintain power and wealth among the privileged. We write off many people as beyond hope.  

If we are looking for a reason for lack of belief in God in religion and for the rise of nones, it is found in this massive gap in what we claim to believe and how we actually treat other people.  We have found ways to recycle and find value in all sorts of inanimate objects.  We can do so with human beings as well.  Restorative and transformative justice has shown us this fact. We need only do so and be true to what we claim to believe.