I have spent way too many years, especially when I was pastoring, trying to save people from themselves. I still care deeply about others. Seeing another struggle and suffering is painful, consequently, I am still willing to go the second mile, but I am no longer willing to invest a lot of energy and resources in someone who is not willing to do their share. And, yes, I recognize that there are far too many suffering from deep chronic depression that leaves them emotionally paralyzed and stuck where they are. Even so, it is impossible to help someone who refuses to accept help or help themselves, and in the end, we have to take care of ourselves in order to be there for another. I marvel at the medical advances that have created medications for those who are sick or chronically depressed. Yet even these advances are beyond the reach of those without health insurance or those who refuse to accept help. All this is a lead-in to some thoughts on unconditional love.
We have been taught by the church that God loves us But… The But, in most cases, comes from human rules and mindsets that define what those in power decide what pleases God and what doesn’t. Attending 12 step meetings long enough that they have shaped the way I look at Scripture and faith, I have come to realize that God’s love, while unconditional, also comes with certain expectations, and God will not step in and save us from ourselves if we do not do our part. In other words, God practices tough love, refusing to save us from our bad choices and practices, another definition of hell.
Jesus says faith can be reduced to two concepts laid out in the Law and The Prophets and is found in all world religions. We are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, and soul, and the second is to love our neighbor, which includes the stranger, as ourselves. That’s all we really need to do to flourish in life. We don’t have to be baptized or participate in man-made rituals and practices, though those can be profoundly meaningful and help us become more loving throughout our lives. In the end, Jesus reminds us over and over that the goal of life is to give and receive love, which happens most often when one is a part of a loving community that focuses on helping its participants to love the Lord our God and our neighbors, again including strangers, as ourselves. After all, we cannot flourish when our lives are defined by fear.
Ironically the church has tended to strip us of an innate respect and wonder that we often describe as worship. Small children often describe intense spiritual experiences, but by the time they go to school they have been stripped of that built-in spirituality by replacing it with a life defined by who is in and who is out and which condones the many sins and abuses that are rampant in humanity such as racism, sexism, patriarchy, etc. Yet, for those who reject the God of Christianity or other major religions as they are practiced, it is still critical that they love God, self, and each other, which can be expressed as loving life, others, and loving and caring tenderly for this precious planet without needing the worship of a specific man-inspired God.
Every society needs guard rails and recognized boundaries, but the establishment of these guard rails, such as those the framers of the Constitution put into place, works only when we as a people operate by observing the Great Commandment to love God and neighbor as ourselves or as the Golden Rule puts it, to treat others with the respect and caring that we want for ourselves. When we reject these basic concepts and social guard rails, we do so at our own peril. Society after society, culture after culture, has failed because of the disregard of these simple, yet critical values.
Being a loving, caring human being is hard work, yet that bias toward life is also written into our DNA so that we automatically experience this longing for connection with a Higher Power that is beyond our human understanding, but which we ignore at our own peril.
Autumn is flaunting its colors and the awe we feel in observing the flaming colors of the trees, the wonder that fills us when we stand on the shores of a mighty ocean or gaze at a star filled sky, the amazement we experience as we watch a bee flit from flower to flower, the utter lack of words to describe the feelings that fill us as we walk through a shade dappled forest or stand in a magnificent cathedral with light streaming through stained glass windows or listen to beautiful music, the simple gratitude that fills us when we are the recipients of a kindness, or are able to perform a kindness for another, this, in the end, is the ultimate expression of loving the Lord, our God, with all our hearts, minds and souls.