Be the Mirror

Elections often seem to make it even more difficult to love our neighbor. We ask ourselves, “How am I supposed to love someone who would vote for that idiot?” Elections reveal our deep divisions and feed our tendency to judge others. Yet, as Thomas Merton says, “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. “

We can love people when we don’t agree with their actions, views, and values. The key is to do what Fr. Ed Hays suggests in his book The Gospel of Gabriel: “Simply be the mirror in which others can see themselves as God sees them.” When we reflect God’s love for others back at them, they are more likely to feel secure, nurtured, and generous rather than fearful, egocentric, and avaricious. Jesus had a heightened awareness of God’s love for him, which allowed him to extend compassion to others; as it was for him, so it is for us. Helping people see God’s love for them is more likely to foster their better nature than judgment, condescension, and criticism.

Like so many of you, I long for justice and unity and the unleashing of our human potential in a world that seems to continually frustrate those aims. However, we are not helpless in this imperfect, maddening world in which we live. Fr. Daniel Berrigan said, “If you want to have hope, do hopeful things.” To be a mirror of God’s love is one of the most hopeful things we can do.