Clearly some of the most memorable words James ever uttered are in 1:26-27:

26 If
anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein
on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. 27 Religion
that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look
after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from
being polluted by the world.

The claim to be religious that is coupled with careless use of the tongue destroys the fabric of that faith. Pure and faultless religion, James says, is acceptable to God because, instead of aborting the birth of love and compassion, it gives birth to compassion.

The picture above is of Tom Davis, who wrote the book Fields of the Fatherless: Discover the Joy of Compassionate Living
, and who has a ministry about rescuing and adopting orphans. Any religion that claims to be a “follow-Jesus” religion will be a religion that shows compassion for orphans and the widows. By doing something.

Now my question: What do you know is being done, locally, about these two marginalized and vulnerable kinds of humans?

I will be making an announcement on this blog soon about a challenge I’d like this blog community to take up as its own. Stay tuned.