Tuesday 18 January 2022
1 Samuel 16:1-13. I have found David, my servant – Psalm 88(89):20-22, 27-28. Mark 2:23-28.
The Sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the Sabbath
There’s a story Anthony de Mello, a Jesuit priest, tells in his book The Song of the Bird where he concludes ‘Don’t cut the person to fit the coat’. This phrase has stuck in my mind for many years now, and I always remember it whenever I am tempted to impose a rule on someone just because it’s the rule, without considering first whether I am actually imposing a suffering because of their individual circumstances. ‘You can only access our services if you fill in this form’. But what if the person has literacy issues? What if the person is vision impaired? What if the person speaks English as a second or third language? What adjustments do we need to make to accommodate people’s differences to ensure everyone has equitable access to what they need, without imposing unfair burdens? What do we need to do so that the person before us in need isn’t faced with the additional injustice of being cut up in order to fit our rules?
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