Jesus, Not Jesús: Finding The Divine In The Space Between Us.
  • Be Kind
  • About this blog
  • About the author
  • Contact
  • Be Kind
  • About this blog
  • About the author
  • Contact

On Being the Beloved

1/7/2020

0 Comments

 
In a speach given in 1956 after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of desegregating the buses in Montgomery, Alabama Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, "The end is reconciliation; the end is redemption; the end is the creation of the beloved community. It's this type of spirit and this type of love that can transform opponents into friends. It is this typ of good will that will transform the deep gloom of the old age into the exuberant gladness of the new age. it is the this love whih will bring about miracles in the hearts of people."
Picture
As the leaders of our country launched another war in the Middle East, we can learn from the wars we fought right here at home, on our own streets against our own brothers and sisters. The race war. The gender war. The war on poverty. The war on drugs. We've gotten too good at starting wars. And have failed at nearly all of them since the end of the second great World War. Yet the little battle that King fought was not won in the courts as much as it was won in the hearts of the people. 

In some hearts there is love. In others there is hatred. But to "build a nation in which neither punishment nor privilege is attached to one's race, skin color, nationality, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other human difference" requires one thing, writes Adam Russel Taylor. "It starts with an understanding that we are beloved by God." We are all made in God's image. We are all tagged and marked by God's finger print. We are all made equally valued and respected by God, no matter our vices, shortcomings, or political affiliations and contradictions.

If we believe this to be true, that we are beloved children of God, then we ought to treat all people as if we are going to wake up tomorrow and they are going to be our roommate, our in-laws  our neighbors, our spouses, our doctors, our teachers, our fellow human traversing the same creation albeit different paths. We ought to care for each other and look out for one another's best interest.

War is not the answer. Love is.

It all begins with God's love for us. It is God who first reconciled with us. It was God who redeemed us. And in the end, it is God who created a community of beloved people. It all starts with having love for each other, and a willingness to be committed to finding a common ground to begin building a beloved community of empathetic and supportive grace. "It's a community in which we are constantly seeking to build and restore right relationships," writes Taylor. 
 
What might restoration and reconciliation look like if our hearts look like God's? Given our success rate with warfare, I'd say it's worth a try. 


Taylor, Adam Russell. Sojourners: Vol. 49, No. 1. January 2020, p. 10.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Ian Macdonald

    An ex-copywriter turned punk rock pastor and peacemaker who dedicates his life to making the world a better place for all humanity. 

    "that they all might be one"  ~John 17:21


    “Prius vita quam doctrina.”
    ​~ S
    t. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274)​
    * “Life is more important than doctrine.”


    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    February 2011
    December 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010

Be Kind

About this blog

About The Author

Contact

Copyright © 2011