TELEMACHUS

Justo González – a Latin American historian – says that at the beginning of the year 400 BC «a lot of westerner monks tried to fight against the injustices and crimes of their time. Telemachus is a symbol of that group of monks. He threw himself to the sand of the Roman Circus and stopped a combat between gladiators. The crowd – which was supposed to be Christian – was very furious and killed him. However, since that day and as a response to what Telemachus did, combats between gladiators were forbidden by the Emperor Honorius (J. González, The history of the Christianity, Spanish House Publisher, Book 1, page 264).

As Telemachus once did, nowadays we also need to act in order to produce long-term and profound changes. It doesn’t matter if we are the President of our Nation or just a number in statistics; we still are responsible for the well-being of our generation.

In order to act we need three important things: a) Have hope; b) Know what are the causes of the problems of our world; c) Devote ourselves completely and conscientiously to be part of the solution. No hopeless pessimist ever achieved anything for humanity. To try to hide the consequences of the human chaos never led us to long-term changes. And absolutely nobody has achieved anything positive with the inhabitants of this planet by not doing anything as a part of the problem.

The Bible says: «This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.» 1 John 3:16 (NIV).

God didn’t send a flyer full of words from heaven to tell us about His great love. He came and lived between us in Jesus. And He also suffered and died at the cross and then He rose from the dead three days later. The reason why He did all this is to show us his love with facts and actions and not just with words.

The conclusion is that in times of natural catastrophes, wars, conflicts, and daily problems, you and I have to act with actions that imply sacrifice and devotion. This way we can be a part of a significant change in our world.

While many others waste their time in leisure activities, superficial fun, empty speeches, complaining, and underestimating everything that has to do with religion and being spiritual, Jesus invites us to follow His steps. This way, the same as Telemachus did in the time of the Roman Empire, lets throw ourselves to the sand and shout: It’s time for a change! It’s time to act!  

Have a Good Weekend!

CRISTIAN FRANCO
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Devocionales Cristianos www.devocionalescristianos.org