Called to Love

(Jesus in the Breadline by Fritz Eichenberg)

As I finished out my semester in Christian Ethics this week, I’ve had a lot to reflect upon.  I found it no small God-incident then that I got to start my first week out of class with the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity as if God was reminding me - you are called to love.

We read time and time again in class how God is love.  Each assignment brought the class that much closer to our final and closing thought - we are called to love.  The entire semester came down to Jesus’ new command in John 13:34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”  WWJD?

Sadly though, we also read time and time again in class – and witnessed in the news over and over and over -  how we as a society are not always love.  Too often we get caught up in our own single story and forget to look at the picture from all sides…..not just one or two sides but ALL sides.  The TED talk ‘Danger of A Single Story’ by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie wonderfully touches on the importance of listening to all sides of a situation.  If you’d like a more action packed version of the dangers of a single story, check out the Hollywood movie ‘Vantage Point’ with Dennis Quaid, It’s a great movie that quickly shows how everyone has a different view of a given situation but it takes all those views together for the hero to figure out the answer.

Both of these above videos are great examples that all of our stories are so important! Life is way more complex than any one single story. All of the stories behind an issue need to be listened to - not judged, not dismissed and definitely not just heard but actually listened to. Only then will we realize that we are all way more alike than different and that we shouldn't be defined by our religious affiliation, our race, our gender, our political affiliation, our sexual orientation, our job, etc. We should be defined by the fact that we are all made in the image of God and we all have a story to share of our humanity and our divinity.....a story that interacts with everyone else's story.

In his book “Doing Christian Ethics from the Margins” Miguel De La Torre, states, “..the relationship existing within the Trinity, between Father, Son and Holy spirit, is not a cosmic puzzle in need of solution, but rather is a paragon to be emulated by humanity.  Father, Son and Spirit do not exist in a hierarchy; rather, all three share equally in substance, power and importance.”  Can I repeat that?  “..a paragon to be emulated by humanity….all three share equally in substance, power and importance.”  

All are equal.  This is the example that God sent us in His Son.  Jesus was one of us.  WWJD?  Jesus ate and drank among those who were marginalized and oppressed in the world – too often those we would consider different from ourselves.  He saw the face of God in all those whom He came into contact with.  He listened without judging.  He treated all as equals.  He treated all with respect and dignity.  And he told us how to do it, “Love one another.” No qualifiers.  He didn’t say ‘love one another if…….’  He said “Love one another.”  Period.

Jesus himself became an outcast – one of those who was different, marginalized and oppressed.  And yet He still “shared equaling in substance, power and importance” within the Holy Trinity.  Could there be any better way for God to show us that all deserve to be loved and valued than to align His Only Son with the oppressed.  We may be different from someone else but not better or worse.  That doesn’t mean that we always have to agree but it does mean that we all deserve to be treated with love, respect, and dignity.  It also means that those of us who are able are called to help those speak out whose own stories can’t be heard above the roar of the privileged.  Doing nothing is not an option.  It’s not only our duty to see the sacred in all but it’s also our privilege and our commandment.  Love one another.

This was the lesson that was reinforced for me all semester long.  But how do I know it’s the message that God really wants me to remember?  Because He told me again this morning during the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity as Fr. Bob stated in his homily - ”God is love…….We are love……We are called to love.”  Wow. Sound familiar?  The messages don’t get much clearer than that.

WWJD?  May that thought carry us into our week, our summer, the political season and onward.  May it cause us to pause and reflect with each and every encounter we share with another individual and every decision we make.  May we always remember that we are called to treat each other as the sacred individuals that we are.  We are called to listen to all sides of a story.  We are called to stand up for what’s right.   We are called to love.

De La Torre, Miguel A. (2014). Doing Christian Ethics from the Margins, 2nd Edition. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books.