One of the neat things about being involved with the kids education is that I am reading, re-reading, and finally reading some great literature. I came across this line in Kipling's The Law of the Jungle just this morning:
Now this is the Law of the Jungle -- as old and as true as the sky;
And the Wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the Wolf that shall break it must die.
As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk the Law runneth forward and back --
For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.
I've been thinking this morning about the many ways this applies to my family, my church, my job, especially this particular thought: when one suffers we all suffer; when one is successful we all are successful.
The scriptures tell us to"bear one anothers burdens, and in so doing, fulfill the Law of Christ." Sounds pretty close to Kipling's observation of the natural order of the Law of the Jungle.
Lord, help me today to remember the importance of each individual in my "pack" and help me as an individual to so do my part to make my "pack" a bastion of strength in this jungle in which we are living.
Thanks, Rudyard, for a great quote!
We're all in this together!
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Is this the same as "It takes a nation to raise a child"?? Redistribuation of wealth??
ReplyDeleteI thought of that African proverb "It takes a village to raise a child" when writing this, too. But I think the spirit of the Kipling quote has a different thought behind it than the "village nanny" concept.
ReplyDeleteWhat I take from Kipling is the idea of the individual's value to the group and the value of the group to the individual in a symbiotic kind of relationship.
While that holds some similarity to the African proverb and I think there is some truth in the "village" saying - I have seen enough of the government's (local, state, and national) involvement in parenting (after all, I do work with DHS on a continuing basis) to know this: the government makes a lousy parent. I believe it takes a family to raise a child - and those whom the family invites into their circle of influence with their children.
I'm not sure where the comment about "redistribution of wealth" fits in here. Maybe from the "bear one another's burden" passage? But again, the Greek would indicate that this "bearing" is a voluntary effort rather than one that is forced by an outside source.
Have a great day and thanks for reading!
good thoughts
ReplyDeletereminds me of the quote - you are only as strong as the weakest link.
We are in this together.
i don't get the saying thingy. do you know who "anonymous" is yet?????
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on fulfilling the law of Christ. I'm not sure I understand where Anonymous is coming from with his comment. I think that when we take individual responsibility to personally help bear another's burden we find they usually will help us in return (not that that should be expected/demanded or that it should be our motive). This strenghthens both the individual wolf and the pack.The key is that we do it by CHOICE, not a "nation or village" coercing "compassion" out of us by forceful taxation for the purposes of redistribution of wealth.
ReplyDelete"Keep your stick on the ice, we're all in this together, and I'm pullin' for ya!"
So, Pastor O watches 'Red Green' too. Hmmm...interesting. ;o)
ReplyDelete