Civic Civility

“And it happened, when the army of the Chaldeans left the siege of Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh’s army, that Jeremiah went out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin to claim his property there among the people.” ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭37:11-12‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/jer.37.11-12.nkjv
One of the advantages of being a Lone Ranger is the simplicity with decision making in personal affairs. A Lone Ranger is good for being responsible for only himself, until his civic responsibilities are assumed compromised. Therefore, fulfilling the civic responsibilities is a stepup to personal affairs, which requires mostly an attribute beyond the attitude of a Lone Ranger. Political manoeuvring and social event organizing demand the engagement with the people for clearer understanding of both the state and sentiments of affairs. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible for anyone to please both man and God at the same time. While the Loner Jeremiah was comfortable with his resolve to live to please God alone, his move from Jerusalem to Bethlehem for land acquisition at such moment of temporal break from siege appears insensitive to the sentiment of the state. And he suffered imprisonment for a perceived violation of his civic responsibilities. It is great to live for reading the mind of God; but it is not bad (albeit a mere simple civic civility) to accommodate the concerns of the people.

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