“It was not until the mid-nineteenth century that the idea of compassion began to include the moral idea that suffering was both wrong and should be prevented or ended, if possible.”
-Bryant L. Myers, Walking With the Poor
It’s fascinating to think about the changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution including the way in which human beings understood the world and their ability to change it. Up until this point, it seemed as though the majority of people had accepted their fates would follow the traditions and long history of their families’. Impoverished farmers would continue to serve the wealthy, young boys would grow up to follow in the footsteps of their fathers and engage in backbreaking work until their premature deaths, girls would learn from their mothers that it was best to remain silent in the presence of men and that their worth would amount to the number of children they could bear…
I think our tendency is to look at the world with all its problems and turn a relatively blind eye to the progress we’ve made as a human race. It’s easy to point fingers at people and institutions and to mourn the state of things but for fear of raising up a future generation of “woe is me-ers” it would do us good to look on how far we have come in a relatively short amount of time. Over the last two hundred years the world’s wealth has increased over fifty times and life expectancy in Europe almost doubled over the same time period. Those young boys suddenly realized they had a say in choosing their futures, that instead of following in the steps of their fathers and grandfathers before them, they could learn a new trade, one that allowed for better health and a longer life. Sadly, those young girls still had a long, hard road before them but look where they (we) are today! Sure, there is still a vast plain of inequality but women can vote, they can hold jobs of high power, they can have a say in how the world functions. They’ve gone beyond living for the sake of men and have determined that they are the captains of their own souls. I say all of this, not to discourage reform or progress, for we do have a long ways to go to make this world what it was meant to be. As long as there are people who are oppressed and marginalized, who live in fear and poverty our work is far from done. But, we cannot lose sight of hope and part of that hope entails looking back at how far we have come as a reminder that the future is not so unattainable as it often seems. I am guilty of allowing hopelessness to wash over me at times, to look at the struggles of indigenous people groups or the oppression of women in the Middle East and feel how enormous of a battle it is. In these times I am reminded that we are not alone, that God hears the cries of His people [all people] and His heart breaks for them. He is raising up leaders in every field and from every walk of life to lead the charge against injustice.
So, the next time you hear about an environmental disaster or an act of awful injustice, allow yourself that indignation, these are things worthy of righteous anger, but don’t drown in them. Glance behind at the progression in rights throughout our long history and then use them to move forward, knowing full well that in another 200 years we will have come so far from where we are now. It will take patience, passion, hard work and compassion to see the eradication of oppression but I believe that with God nothing is impossible.
MUSINGS OF A WANDERER 