Political & Religious Commentary
Politics is Where the Competing Moral Visions of a Society Meet and Struggle
Ashes To Ashes - Dust To Dust
By Tom Walsh
With Ashes on our foreheads we proclaim our mortality as we begin Lent. We are asked to call to mind The Four Last Things: Heaven, Hell, Death and Judgment. There is a heaven. There is a Hell. We are all going to die and we are all going to be judged.
A friend recently lent me an audiotape of the deceased Christian singer Keith Green. I popped it into the tape player in my car and began to travel back in time almost 20 years ago. What joyful memories it evoked, of a time when I was truly on fire for God. But then he pulled me up short.
In his song The Sheep and the Goats, Keith’s lyrics provocatively challenge us on an issue we should look at more often. He drew upon Sacred Scripture and creative story telling to paint a word picture of the Last Judgment and the words of Our Lord when He says, “Whatever you do to the least of my brethren you do to me.” The sheep were praised for feeding the hungry, visiting the sick and imprisoned, clothing the naked and giving drink to the thirsty; while the goats were severely rebuked for their lack of concern. He winds up with a stark comparison.
"The only difference between the sheep and the goats is what they DID and DIDN’T… DO!”
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[1]Click below for complete lyrics to Keith Green's The Sheep And The Goats