Dirk Taljaard

Reading from Scripture

Exodus 20:15

Do not steal.

To steal is to take something that is not rightfully yours or even to withhold something which is actually due to someone else. Corruption is reigning supreme in all forms and formats, such as theft and misapplication. What makes it even worse is that these phenomena are being referred to as ‘affirmative shopping’ and ‘obliteration of inequalities of the past’.

We all know – or have become victims of - some blatant forms of theft. We have become exposed to the more subtle forms which confront as on a daily basis:

• To lay claim to something that does not belong to you.

Just think about the way in which tax returns are completed, omitting a figure here and there. Calculate the working time wasted due to late arrivals and early departures. How much time is wasted by extended coffee and lunch times (even smoke breaks). Are the printers, internet and telephones at work used only for business purposes, or do personal matters somehow creep in? How much office stationery is to be found in children’s pencil boxes at school?

• When you withhold what is due to someone else

Think about the time, attention and energy supposed to be spent with our spouses and families, that gets ‘absorbed’ by less important things. Ask yourself whether the reward you receive end of each month can be balanced with your input at work. Is every employee rewarded according to their contribution to the company, or do some only receive a pittance? We have become so used to moaning and criticising all forms of government, but do we honestly contribute to civil society the way we should?

• By having the wrong attitude

How do we treat nature? Do we exhaust our natural resources without considering the impact on generations to come? Do we conserve nature or do we destroy the beauty of the fauna and flora around us? Is it acceptable to lay claim to rights – where people only have one thing in mind: to appropriate what they believe to be theirs – or will taking responsibility come into play sometime, somehow?

Lord, teach me to count my blessings. Amen.