Thursday, January 10, 2019

Love of neighbor...

"Whoever loves God must also love his (or her) brother (or sister)."
1 John 4:21

Continuing with the letter of St. John about love, we see the hard part. Loving God seems so much easier than loving our neighbor. God seems more abstract, easier to love, while our neighbor could be right next to us, saying things that drive us crazy, getting on our last nerve. No question about it, it's easier to love the abstract than the real thing next door. But what if we imagine for a moment that it is God living next door? Maybe it's God using a leaf blower at 7:00 AM? What if it is God challenging our good will by taking up the position opposite of ours (and we know we're right!) What if it's God at the border or in the prison or on the street corner with a sign? If we can imagine God as our neighbor it may help us overcome the ill-will with our neighbor. If we believe that God creates all living things (including people) and breathes life into all creation we can maybe wiggle around to the idea that God is in all creatures. The love of God is in all, whether people choose to manifest that love or not. It seems that creation has less difficulty manifesting the glory of God than human beings.Think of sitting out in nature and taking in the vast glory of God there! Human beings have free will, which may make them a bit less loveable at times. Just for today, let's imagine all we meet are carrying the love of God within them, whether or not it shows outwardly. And let's try to make sure our love of God does show outwardly! Love, heidi

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