By Klaus Döring
At the younger age of one of my nieces here in the Philippines, whenever she felt she was wronged, she cried out, “It isn’t fair!” Fair has many meanings, such as light-colored, not cloudy, hopeful, plausible, middling. How about “fairly”? Justly, tolerably, wholly.
My niece’s father, whose patience was always exhausted, responded grimly, “LIFE is NOT fair!” In my opinion, that is not really a satisfying answer.
Even adults often have troubles with the idea of fairness. The government body tasked to ensure fair competition, is investigating power firms as well as scrutinizing telecommunication services in a bid to protect consumers against monopolies, cartels and unfair trade practices. We all can very well experience the monopolies of electricity or telecommunication services!
How about our workplace surroundings? How do we deal with our business partners? Fairness in the workplace contributes to employees feeling safe and engaged in the work they produce. It creates a productive environment for employees in which the company compensates them fairly and management professionals equally appreciate each employee’s hard work.
Yes, even adults have troubles with fairness. The laborers in the vineyard certainly did. They received exactly what they had bargained for, yet they complained when others got the same pay for less work. If this parable were a story about earned wages, the grumblers would have been quite right to complain. But this story is about the way God deals with us, and how can we say that God is not fair?
Fairness requires people to be put into categories. Anyone who fulfills certain requirements will receive a certain reward – regardless of any differences in the situation. God knows that categories only outline the sort of people we are. He knows that each of us is unique. He gives each of us according to our individual needs.
In our everyday life, do we practice the idea of fairness in our work or in our dealings with others? How? Analyze yourself. You are the only one with our dear Lord above, who knows the right answer. May we learn what it means to be fair to one another.
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