Sin of omission

"For want of a nail a kingdom is lost" (nursery rhyme). "A little folly outweighs wisdom and honor" (Ecclesiastes 10:1).

Over the holidays I was reminded of the extensive harm caused by little omissions. I saw a woman near to tears because grandchildren she has mailed birthday and Christmas money to for over twenty years have never once acknowledged her gifts. Five minutes' effort would have bought much good will. Conversely, I have seen how a five minute act of love --- letter or phone call --- has yields all out of proportion to the expenditure.

I am guilty. I have been a widow for over eight years and almost completely neglected my mother-in-law in Korea. I told my mother about this and she said it was bad --- but that "it's never too late to start."

Those were words of life, and right from God's mouth: "Stop doing wrong; learn to do right" (Isaiah 1:16).

And: "But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal…." (Philippians 3:13,14).

I sat down on January 1st, took out a sheet of the pretty new stationery someone gave me, and wrote in my best Korean script to an old woman in a hut in the middle of a rice paddy in Buan, South Korea. And it felt really good.