Love Can Save Us All

This morning I shared on Facebook a video by the Most Rev. Michael Curry, the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church of the United States; https://www.facebook.com/WNCathedral/videos/1179124769119484/

It is a short video in which Bishop Curry is imploring people to wear a face mask and as a way to minimize the spread of the Corona Virus and as a demonstration of our love for others.  As he states, this is an act of love that makes room for others in our lives and others can make room for us in the lives of others.  He closes by saying that “love can save us all.” 

This is true in a universal sense beyond the small symbol of wearing a mask in dealing with the Corona Virus.  Although, this is front and centre as a demonstration of love for others in this particular time.  My Facebook comment on this video was that this theme, “love can save us all” sums up the message and meaning of Jesus Christ.  Jesus responds to the Pharisee when asked which is the greatest commandment, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’” (Matthew 22:34-40)

We can say it musically if that would help.  All of us baby boomer could turn to those musical  saints (or sinners, depending on your perspective), The Beatles, All You Need Is Love; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7xMfIp-irg.

This seems to be pretty clear and should, therefore, be the primary duty of all Christians.  Unfortunately, I must admit that this commandment is honoured more in the breech than the observance.  There is a reason for this – in my experience although it is a very clear message - it is, shall we say, less than easy to accomplish.  Consequently, I believe that many Christians decide that there are other things we are called to as Christians than loving others, or at least loving those who are not easy to love.  Jonathan Swift summed it up very nicely, “We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another.” 

So, if Bishop Curry is correct that love can save us, how are we Christians and I hope for the sake of the world, all humankind, actually love one another?  This does seem more than is possible for most people who are not saints.   I guess the answer is, one step at a time.  We can use something that seems a bit more self centered which may appeal to us, treat others the way you want to be treated.  If that sounds familiar it also goes by the name of the Golden Rule.  Specifically, as someone else said, “just do it”; wear a mask.

Blessings on your journey and don’t forget to wear your mask.

Getting off the Hamster Wheel

Last week, one of the Daily Meditations from Richard Rohr really resonated with me:

We are not hamsters on a wheel, waiting to fall into the cedar shavings at the bottom of the cage. We are seekers of light and life, bearers of shadows and burdens. We are struggling to journey together toward moral fulfillment. We are learning to embrace the unfathomable darkness where God dwells with enthusiasm that equals our love of light. 

Actually, it was the first sentence in that paragraph that particularly resonated with me, “We are not hamsters on a wheel, waiting to fall into the cedar shavings at the bottom of the cage.”  Unfortunately, we are to a greater or lesser extent, just that.  We often go through life without reflection or contemplation and without even recognizing that we are on a hamster wheel.  We accept where we are in life without much consideration or question of where we are or where we are going; are we seekers of light and life as Richard Rohr proposes or do we just try to make it through the day to day routine and challenges that often fills our days?

Speaking from experience, it is very easy to get into a routine and follow that routine without necessarily questioning if that is what I could or should be doing.  Routines are good in that they allow you to get through you days and weeks and more without having to expend energy to think or reflect on what you are doing.  The Corona Pandemic, to a great extent, forced us get off our regular hamster wheels and decide how we were going to approach life in the corona pandemic world.  In many cases this amounted to finding a new wheel to mount and begin to ride again.  In other case, unfortunately, it meant life-changing decisions that had to be made – sometimes with tragic consequences. 

I do believe that assertion by Richard Rohr; we are created to be seekers of light and life, bearers of shadows and burdens.  We can only do that by trying, as best we can, to live a life that is conscious of who we are and why we do the things we do and being the people God created us to be.  This is what makes us human.  We are called to reflect on what we are doing and why we are doing it.  That is no easy task and can require that we get off the hamster wheel or at least stop the spinning from time to time and step outside our routine existence. 

This is what Jesus’s parables attempt to do.  The reality of God’s world is opened up in new ways.  The hamster wheels of the people he was talking to was brought into focus and questioned.  Is that the way I should be treating others; who is my neighbour; do I walk by the person who has been mugged and is lying at the side of the road even if he or she is not worthy of my attention, what is truly important in my life?

How do we see “the other” as a fellow human being and act and react as a human being?  I want to close by applying this to an issue that is currently trending on social media – the Black lives Matter movement that has been reinvigorated during the corona pandemic.   The response by some is that all lives matter and of course as Christians we all called to believe that all lives matter.  But what does it mean to stop the wheel spinning in this issue?  For me, the cry of Black lives Matter has never been a statement that only black lives matter or that other lives don’t matter.  It is a cry that black lives and lives of indigenous people - indeed lives of those who are “the other” also matter.  However, in many ways and in many situations that they have meant less than lives of white people or perhaps people of wealth and influence.

Let us be seekers of light and life and bearers of shadows and burdens on our journey.  

Blessings to you on that journey.