Richard Mallory

Bother us
In a certain city there was a judge
who neither feared God
nor had respect for people….
A widow kept coming to him
saying, “Grant me justice.”
—Luke 18.2-3

O Humble One,
come to us—
judgmental as we are,
oblivious to you,
careless toward others—
come, demanding justice,
come, and come again;
wear us down
by continually coming.
Disguised as someone
vulnerable, powerless,
shamed, blamed,
let your small voice
keep bothering us
until we grant you justice.
O Lowest One,
you who patiently wait,
it is we who have the power,
we who must listen,
who must decide.

When you come among us
will you find faith?

Dear Friends in Christ,

She is a pesky gal—a real nuisance. How inconsiderate to be forcing herself into the schedule of such an important professional man! But wait. We then learn he is spiritually bankrupt.

He has no reference for God, the Holy One. He has divorced himself from the Great Command: Love God. Love people. Love self. Since he loves neither God nor people, he cannot love himself any more than Scrooge could love prior to his great awakening. This reality is lost to him so he lives an empty life but he does have power. That’s all he has.

Back to the Widow Nuisance. She is a one woman dynamo. She is a snapping turtle who latches onto a cause she will not abandon.

Humor abounds. When Quaker philosopher Elton Trueblood wrote, The Humor of Christ, this story surely was included. It could be produced as slap stick. Saturday Night Live could rework it lampooning contemporary leaders (got any suggestions?).

We listen in on his self-talk. He’s desperate. So much so that he fears he’ll be “worn out” by his opponent. He raises the white flag. He surrenders. He has been defeated.

This judge is not a God figure. Rather, God is on the side of the woman denied justice. He is with her as she refuses to allow injustice to victimize her, defeat her or prompt her to go full blown self-pitying.

In the poem, this poet puts you and me in the role of the judge (how insulting is that!). This poet calls us all out for our love of judging as in judgmentalism. Ouch!

The Christ figure is this pesky woman who won’t give up and keeps on keeping on. It is the “small voice” that “keeps bothering us” towards “justice.” Towards the way of Christ, God’s dream for humanity, also called Kingdom of God.

Imagery can be fluid. She is the Christ from one vantage and she is us from another. Persistence and perseverance she models in her living and in her praying.

In Christ,

—Richard