“Love of God, Love of Neighbor” there it is summed up, the entirety of the Judeo-Christian faith history. There it is, the summary of salvation. “Love of God, Love of Neighbor”; nothing else beyond this mindset, no other action on our part has merit without love of God, love of neighbor. If we truly desire peace, wholeness, transformation of this world: love of God, love of neighbor.
Our whole lives become a journey, of growing in our experience of this love; growing in our capacity to Love. It is growing from knowing Love and then taking the final step to actually do love. The Love that Jesus speaks of is “agape”. It is not the emotional reaction we have and we tend to equate with love. That is more “eros” to use the Greek translation.
Love, as Jesus speaks of and as he lived it out, Love, agape, believes in the goodness of the other. Love, agape, responds to that goodness by working for that goodness; by our willingness to give of our own selves for the good of that other; whether it be God or the neighbor.
The True Kingdom of God is not some heaven light years away, but is to exist in this reality here and now. God created paradise here on earth, and placed us in it, to live within it, within harmony with God and the world. So the Kingdom can be and is meant to be in this parish, in our homes, in our workplaces, in our schools, in our city, if only we love God and Love each other. We can only enter into this kingdom when we truly Love, God and each other.
As children, our understanding of Love is usually based on give and take: simple expressions of affection to show value. How many mothers have received countless bouquets of dandelions from their children? How many fathers receive hand drawn pictures to be placed on refrigerators? God is the warm fuzzy grandfatherly being. We also generally teach kids a love that means we need to do this and that...pray, obey, behave… It’s not bad, just a start.
Then we hit puberty and it all starts to change. Love becomes more equated with emotions, sensations, appearances & acceptance, popularity; we crush on others and call it love, or as Donny sings, Puppy Love… Not always the best, but… It is a confusing time, rebellious; and at times we adults don’t do the best job in walking with our teens helping them to understand that love means so much more. Yet we do our best. Yet, we also see sparks of giving, the beginnings of that maturing; Teens seeing God working within them, even amidst the messiness of it all.
Then we finally get through those horrible hormonal years, we slowly calm down; the experience of Love begins to deepen; we can begin to fall in love, feeling that deep physical need to be with someone; and we begin to realize that greater depth; that it can go beyond equating “like” for love; that we can begin to see that we will not always like others, but we can still have hope in them. Jesus’ talk on love of enemies begins to click.
Then many take that love to the next step; they see that Goodness in the other; they commit themselves to that other and they marry. They make a bond that nothing or nobody will block that desire to see the good in the other. They can begin to understand God’s commitment to humanity falls in the same way; understand that God’s love is not about emotion, but hope in our goodness and that willingness to be with us through thick and thin.
When when children enter into the picture; when we see that baby’s face for the first time and hear that cry the very first time, that little one, that vulnerable one, that pure one, we understand love even more; we would do anything to protect that child, everything to help them succeed; and Jesus’ life takes on more meaning; God’s love goes even deeper.
When kids grow up, begin to move away, we ourselves age, we maybe thicken up a bit, there is an empty nest; we begin to calm even more, we reflect and look back; gain some wisdom and see the long view; and maybe smile at ourselves and at God. God always was there, guiding us and the world, even when we resisted. God waited, God forgave, God raised us up, again and again and again. We try to share this with those who are younger, but...
Then we come to an end, and with love, we slip through that thin veil, beyond space and time; and beyond that we can only imagine.
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