The sacred Garbage Man

If a picture paints a thousand words, then this one is a whole tome in itself~~

W. Eugene Smith WORLD WAR II. // The Pacific Campaign. June 1944

This photo from World War 2 is iconic and, in my mind, is one of the most important comments on war in general.  The picture, by W. Eugene Smith, is of an American Marine finding a desperate infant still astonishingly breathing among the dead in Saipan. They passed the baby from soldier to soldier until the child arrived at the top of the hill.  I wish I could find out whatever happened to the child, but have not been able to do so as yet.  Perhaps the child’s history is now lost to us.

It reminds me of how God graphically records His “finding” of the Hebrew nation:

“But I came by and saw you there, helplessly kicking about in your own blood. As you lay there, I said, ‘Live!’ And I helped you to thrive like a plant in the field. You grew up and became a beautiful jewel…”

Unhappily, the very people chosen by God took their treasured affluence in a different direction that what was intended:

“You looked like a queen, and so you were! Your fame soon spread throughout the world because of your beauty. I dressed you in my splendor and perfected your beauty, says the Sovereign LORD.  But you thought your fame and beauty were your own…you defiled your beauty…”

Idolatry of various kinds had been welcomed into the otherwise pristine picture.  The very Hand that drew them out of the mud was now being slapped away:

“They traded their glorious God for a statue of a grass-eating bull.”

And in response to the people’s freewill choices, God reveals His own:

“I let them pollute themselves with the very gifts I had given them,…”

OUCH! 

As if that’s not enough, using the gifts, qualities, and abilities God gives us for our unredeemed purposes not only equals spiritual prostitution, but also corrupts other precious ones whom God intends for His own.  What are newly birthed Christians seeing when they view my lifestyle?  Even in the Christian culture, we buy into mindsets and push our kids into activities for “their” benefit, but really…?

“Must you also slaughter my children by sacrificing them to idols?” 

I need to remember where I came from, and fix my eyes clearly on where I’m going, as well as who might be following behind without me even knowing it.  Thus, as the song goes, I am still in need of a Savior. 

“He lifts the poor from the dust and the needy from the garbage dump.  He sets them among princes, even the princes of his own people!”

Thankfully, my history is still being written.

Ezekiel 16:6,7; Ezekiel 15:13-15, 25; Psalm 106:20; Ezekiel 20: 26; Ezekiel 16:21; Psalm 113:7  Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.