Prayer

Many who are first will be last and the last first

Flannery O’Connor had a dream of the end-time. She saw a vast procession of people. At the front were people with severe disabilities and mental illness and street people, clean for the first time in their lives. They were whooping and hollering. At the back were the good, respectable people, bewildered, not at all sure what was going on.

In parts of Asia, people with severe mental illness are stripped naked and tied by a chain to a pole in the ground. I hope to see them close to God in eternity.

Despite talk of a level playing field, many people never have a chance in life. A background of abuse, neglect, parental addiction and just plain poverty work against them. An 11th commandment could be ‘never be a bystander’. If you can help in any way, do so.