Wise words from my mother in response to the pointing fingers in an argument with my siblings. We'd get in trouble for whatever bickering we were doing, and we'd want to absolve ourselves by putting the blame on the other person.

Retorts like "It's not my fault! He hit me first!" or "She started it! She called my face dumb!" would come out with the implication that it's okay to hit or insult back because the other person did first.

But the thing is, it's not always exclusively the other person's fault. Everyone usually had a hand in it, agitating somebody to a harsher action.

Then my mother would step in, and say "It doesn't matter who started it - you stop it." It's more important to stop what's going on then it is to know who's to blame.

The same goes for the problems in the world today.

Poverty? That's not my fault. I didn't cause that.
Racism? Nope - not me.
Hunger? Nah, that's someone else.
Oppression? No, that's other people.

But that doesn't mean I can't do something about it. And I've likely done things that actually have contributed to the problems. As a Christian, God calls me to do something about it.

The first week of orientation, we read Isaiah 58. Here's what it has to say:

"Is this not the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?"

It doesn't matter who started it - you stop it.