BROADEN YOUR SCOPE

Thursday: 28th March, 2019

Reference text: Luke 11:14-23

Luke 11:18 So if Satan too is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? I ask you this because you claim that I cast out demons by beelzebul.

In my primary school days, there was a notion that ‘all pupils who wore glasses were intelligent’. The basis of this claim may never be proven, but it was one that was very easily propagated. This conclusion fell safely into a set of generalisations in that time which now, would only draw laughter from many for obvious reasons.

The fact that this is highlighted together with today’s Gospel is important. Jesus asked his audience the question He did because they claimed the source of His power was beelzebul. Thus, we can dive deeper into what could have influenced the decision of these people to make that association and after careful study, amidst all other factors, a lack of information will certainly pop up.

When people don’t know, they make things up to fill the gap: false information, untruths, misinformations and misinterpretation. Multiple attempts are made to hide ignorance and offer a staunch defence of that stance. However, if there is something to be learnt from this, it is ‘just because we see similarity does not mean we conclude as ‘same’.

When we do not have up to date information, let us not be quick to make generalisations and conclusions. Rather, let us make effort to consolidate our knowledge base and not fill gaps with ‘anything’ and ‘everything’.

#sly