If you had hungry children at home, no money and it is against the law to work, would you steal?
I know my answer and the answer of my deeply religious friends.But this week, as I left a store with the goods I bought, I stood behind a man being checked by security.
He had a plastic bag, 1 kilo of pap I think, and a till slip. But the pap was not on the slip. The security did not call security, she calmly sent him back to the till.
I was checked and left. But it was strange. Only later I realised he had a plan, but it backfired. He was trying to steal food for his family. The hero in the story for me is the security lady. She probably knew what was happening.
But she acted with grace. Something that some religious people may struggle with. I so wished that I was a bit more awake. I would have taken him back into the store and bought groceries for him and his family for the whole month.
I missed an opportunity to practice my religion.I still cannot answer my own question honestly, but I remembered an inconvenient Bible verse. Matthew 7:1, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the same measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
So, my prayer today is that I will never be in that situation. Grace, not law, is what the world needs today. Do you have grace?
