It was September 13th of this year and I was in somewhat of a blue funk. Don't ask me exactly what that is but it just sounds like somewhere one would rather not be. One of my sisters in community made a suggestion. She said, "Why don't you check out the reflection you wrote for today in the Living Faith Publication." I decided to take a look as I hadn't gotten around to reading it yet. It was a reflection on Luke 6: 27-38 and I had focused on this text:
...Love your enemies...
...pray for those who mistreat you.
...pray for those who mistreat you.
All I can say is that after reading it I thought: SOMETIMES YOUR OWN WORDS COME BACK TO HAUNT YOU. Here is my reflection:
In reading our gospel for today you may be tempted to
ask, “Is this good news?” Who among us
knows how to love with such generosity? This kind of loving requires a bigheartedness
that you probably think you don’t own.
This is precisely where you are into flawed thinking. You already possess this Christ-like love
though it may be dormant from underuse We probably all have a tendency to wonder
why we should waste our love on
enemies. Yet love is never wasted. Difficult as it is, our squandered love may be a bandage for someone’s tormented
soul.
To help you with this difficult assignment I am giving
you a new name. It is actually a name
Jesus gave to you. Your new name is ‘be
merciful’. Thus as you continue reflecting
on Jesus’ poignant yet somewhat
distressing mandate to love your enemies, let your new name wash over you like
a cleansing antibiotic. Imagine being
freed from harmful toxins in your body simply because you are loving when it
isn’t easy. [My P.S. to this is that living in community isn't always easy] But it's good! ...and by the way, no one was really mistreating me!
Incidentally, reflecting on community living I chose the photo above (borrowed from the web) because the birds on the line remind me of community. There can be support in togetherness. However, if you look further down on the branch you will see a little frozen loner. I've been meditating on that loner. The trick seems to be knowing how to juggle solitude and community. Thus knowing when to join the group is wisdom. And knowing when to step out of the group for awhile is also wisdom.
HAPPY LIVING EVERYBODY!
...and don't forget to be merciful
to yourself and to others.
Amen! And thank you.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this gracious and rather timely reminder! There are some growing pains happening in my seminary community as we come together this year and I find myself struggling somewhere in the middle.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photo! thanks for the reminder of the wisdom to be merciful even when it is not easy!
ReplyDeleteIt seems that having wisdom is the hardest of all.
ReplyDelete