How do we do what’s right, Jesus,
when it costs us so much to follow you?
when the good and the true and the beautiful
cannot be purchased
in a ‘buy-now-pay-later’ scheme
as a quick-fix solution to our longing for life?
How do we do what’s right when it takes so much time,
and when the life it brings comes
according to the timetable of eternity,
not the stopwatch of our up-to-the-minute world?
How do our leaders do what’s right, Jesus,
for the weak and marginalised,
for people beyond our borders,
when the cost could be to forfeit their opportunity to lead?
How do our corporations do what’s right, Jesus,
for our suffering planet,
for the rights and needs of the poor,
when the cost could be to lose investors,
and sacrifice the lives of their own workers?
How do our protectors do what’s right, Jesus,
for the broken and desperate,
for our allies and enemies,
when the cost could be to face the attacks
of those they seek to defend?
We need to learn how to do what’s right, Jesus,
our world needs us to learn it;
we need to count the cost of your call,
and measure it against the abundant life you promise.
Help us, in our own small way, to be those who do the right thing,
and in so doing, demonstrate the goodness
that following you brings to all.
Amen.
