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Brothers

             One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys. (Proverbs 18:9)

            The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. (Attributed to Edmund Burke, among others.)

            I go to work. It’s over 80, with no air conditioning, and the full-time cashier has been keeping the place basically clean (keeping in mind that it’s a greenhouse, which means “barn” for plants.) I struggle this time of year because there’s not much I can do. And then there are some high school and college students who come to work and spend time on social media, liking everyone’s posts so they won’t seem mean, or otherwise looking at their phones. As I read today’s verse in the light of my current workload, I cringe. Am I being slack in my work? I want to think I’m not, but I could be actively seeking another job where it’s air-conditioned and I can be busy all day.

            As I read today’s verse and the quote that comes to mind, I think of something I’ve mentioned before. While being slack in one's work is not being the person who destroys, it’s closer to that (a brother to it) than it is to someone who looks after the well-being of one’s home, family, employer, etc.  We may not lift a finger to help the destroyer, but neither do we do much to stop him, or to aid the one who builds up. We may claim that we don’t hate anyone, but that doesn’t mean we love anyone either. To not be negative is not the same as being positive. Zero is closer to negative than it is to positive. While it might be positioned equally distant from both -1 and 1, moving toward 1 requires effort, whereas moving toward -1 simply involves giving in to temptation.

            So, the one who is slack in his work is a brother to the one who destroys, and the one who doesn’t love is a brother to the one who hates.

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