Am I My Sister's Keeper?

It’s easy to engage life with a hands-off distance. “It’s her business if she wants to do that.” “Well, it was her choice. Now it’s her consequences.” “I’ll just worry about my own life.” “It’s not my problem. That’s her job.”

And from a logical perspective, I can’t honestly disagree with that attitude. We aren’t supposed to be meddlers and busy-bodies. There is wisdom in taking personal responsibility for our own choices and letting others do the same. Nor do we have the time, energy, or resources to get involved with everything around us.

Yet as I look around me at the shambles the world is in...deep poverty, starvation, abuse, broken relationships, people and nature ravaged by war and neglect...I wonder if somehow we’ve missed the point of that conversation between God and Cain when that age-old question was first asked, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

What if the answer to that question really was “yes”? What if the question itself is nothing more than an excuse to keep from getting our hands dirty? What if we’ve turned personal responsibility into a reason not to care? What if minding our own business has become a way to avoid being all that God has called us to be? What if everyone everywhere really is our brother and sister as fellow children of the King? And what if we really are to be our brother’s and sister’s keeper?

Now I’m not talking about selling all you own and giving it to the poor. I’m not talking about turning this into chasing after every flashy or heart-rending cause someone waves in front of you. I’m not talking about the good ole Christian judgment and condemnation cloaked under “accountability” and “tough love”. Nor am I talking about forcing choices on someone else because we’ve decided that is the right path for that other person.

I’m simply talking about being wholly who and how God created you to be as you live fully in each moment. I’m talking about acknowledging the inherent value in each and every person who God has created. And I’m talking about recognizing that everything we do really does impact someone else. Maybe many other people. We truly are all connected in that sense, and that fact bears with it a certain responsibility.

Think for a moment about nature. There are natural, organic lifecycles for each organism. Sun and rain, winter and summer, life and death. From the grandest tree in the forest to the tiniest microbe in the soil, they all work together, each impacting everything around it. What if the tree decided not to be a tree anymore? “Oh, all those little animals can just go find another home.” “Why should I provide shade for these other plants? Let them make their own shade.” “I happen to like my leaves. I don’t think I’ll let them fall to the ground to enrich the soil this year.”

You’re probably laughing by now. Of course a tree can’t decide anything, let alone to stop being what it simply is! We humans are unique in that we can choose to live in a way other than God created us to be. We can choose to use the talents and personality He gave us or not. We can distance ourselves from life around us or engage. We have choice.

Knowing you have choice and knowing that every choice you make impacts someone else in some way or another, what will you choose today? What gift are you to the world simply in being yourself? What are your skills and talents and unique experiences? What passions, dreams, and hopes has God placed in your heart? What people are in your life, whether long term or crossing your path for a moment? What opportunities are before you right now?

Stop thinking this has to be something big by society’s measuring stick. I truly believe that a smile, a hug, a kind word, or a listening ear can make a difference. The tiniest ripples join with other ripples to make waves that change the world. Like it or not, you really do belong in this great big, wonderful, hodge-podge mess that is God’s family. You really do matter. And you really are a gift to the world. So be your part in making it a better place for everyone, especially for the sister or brother beside you right now.