Re:Verse passage – Proverbs 31:8 (day three)
“Open your mouth for the mute,
For the rights of all the unfortunate.”
To speak on behalf of those who have no standing, no access to power, is an endeavor fraught with nuanced hazard. To use your standing in such a way is to act as a representative – one who amplifies the will of the overlooked or ignored. The danger is that you will come to view such a role as a means to make a statement or prove a point or perform penance or demonstrate your worth. When such is the case, the one who can become forgotten amid all those motives is the one on whose behalf you’re supposedly working. It’s easy to cross that line. Jesus, in his dealings with people, showed us how to keep the “mute and unfortunate” front and center: keep drawing near to their experience.
