A lot of the scripture readings this week of the Epiphany season
are about abiding in God’s love. One important aspect of trying to live in God’s
love is to be aware of our often unconscious tendency to choose who is worthy
of being loved. As Thomas Merton said, “Our job
is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy. That is not our
business and, in fact, it is nobody's business. What we are asked to do is to
love, and this love itself will render both ourselves and our neighbors worthy."
It is natural for us to encounter “kindred
spirits” in our lives, people we connect with easily, those who share our
interests and respond to our needs. They add sweetness to life. However, we
need to be careful not to cling to them so tightly that we shut out other
people who don’t seem as worthy of being loved—those who behave badly or who we
may find tedious or uninteresting. In her book The Art of Loving, Chiara Lubich offers this challenge:
Since
we live in time, we must love our neighbors one by one, without holding in
our
heart any left-over affection for the brother or sister met a moment before.
It
is the same Jesus, after all, whom we love in everyone. If anything left-over
remains,
it
means that the preceding brother or sister was loved for our sake or for theirs…
not
for Jesus.
If we believe it is God who breathes life into
us, then every person is a manifestation of God in some way. If God deems that we
ourselves merit love, then everyone merits love. Let us go forth with an open
heart, remembering “It is the same Jesus, after all, whom we love in everyone.”
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