I was surprised some by your answer to Lyn* that to hide ourselves from one another is to not be each other’s keeper. I didn’t think of hiding as not looking out for one another.
I’ve been looking into some of the things written in Isaiah 58, especially “hiding ourselves”. In Deuteronomy 22, what you said to Lyn matches very well with what Moses said about hiding:
¶1. “You shall not see your brother’s ox or his sheep going astray and hide yourself from them. You shall certainly return them to your brother.
2.And if your brother is not near you, or you do not know him, then you shall bring it home to your house, and it shall be with you until your brother looks for it. Then, you shall return it to him.
3.And you shall do likewise with his donkey, and you shall do likewise with his garment. Yea, you shall do likewise with any lost thing of your brother’s which was lost by him and that you found. You are not allowed to hide yourself.
4.You shall not see your brother’s donkey or his ox fallen down in the way and hide yourself from them. You shall certainly help to get it up.
Hiding ourselves is not taking care of one another when it falls into our lap to do so. I had to wonder if there have been times I’ve hidden myself when trouble with a brother or a sister fell to me to correct. Or have I made it difficult on someone when they sought to correct my trouble?
We can’t have an Us without both humbly correcting and treasuring correction. We need to stay good at doing both.
It deeply saddens me to think of someone no longer being offered correction because they are known for not receiving it. We must not make things too difficult on the messenger even if we feel awkward.
John D.
* See post dated September 21, 2022, Isaiah 58:7