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Stratum, Nepal, Modern Day Slavery
Photograph by Lisa Kristine (1598-1664),
Photographed in 2016,
Giclee print,
© Lisa Kristine Photography |
Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, 'If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.' They answered him, 'We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, "You will be made free"?'
Jesus answered them, 'Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the Son has a place there for ever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are descendants of Abraham; yet you look for an opportunity to kill me, because there is no place in you for my word. I declare what I have seen in the Father's presence; as for you, you should do what you have heard from the Father.'
They answered him, 'Abraham is our father.' Jesus said to them, 'If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing what Abraham did, but now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are indeed doing what your father does.' They said to him, 'We are not illegitimate children; we have one father, God himself.' Jesus said to them, 'If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now I am here. I did not come on my own, but he sent me. |
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| Reflection on the Photograph
We all want to be free, in the fullest sense of the word. If the opposite of freedom is bondage and slavery, no one wants that. We are all enslaved to a certain extent to some bad habits or to sin. If some of these bad habits bring us temporary pleasure or make us feel good, we can even love our slavery. But when through our faith we step back from daily reality and consider happiness without that slavery, we would all want to finish with this bondage. We all ultimately aim for a simple happiness in freedom, away from any bondage or slavery. You would like to be happy in freedom, not a slave to pleasant addictions. That is what Christ is calling us to in today’s Gospel reading.
Our photograph is by Lisa Kristine, an International humanitarian photographer. In many of her photographs she highlights the issues of modern-day slavery. There are currently 27 million people enslaved or in forced labour. That's more than double the number of people trafficked during the entire Transatlantic Slave Trade! In our photograph we see people, probably entire families, working in bonded labour. These people don’t have a choice. Often they get enslaved through loans they take on. Slaveholders, the only people in these poorer countries who hold money to lend, trick the borrowers into slavery through illegal, exorbitant interest rates that are impossible to repay. Children inherit the massive debt from their parents, and thus start working from a very young age too.
Whilst the slavery to sin and the slavery in our artwork are different, they share the same human desire underneath, for everyone, including us, to be freed from any slavery and be free. Whilst, through grace, we hold it in our own hands to break away from the bondage of sin, unfortunately the people depicted in our photograph are powerless to break free from their enforced modern slavery… We pray today for those who are being trafficked and forcibly put to work.
by Patrick van der Vorst
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