Meditating on duty to others. In a time of shared crisis, some still spew denial.
Newton taught us:
Issac Newton. circa 1687
“For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.”
Is love governed by reaction? Am I inert? Do I require an impetus to respond?
I don’t believe so.
Agapeo – love as an unconditional action.
If love is an action, it has its own motivation. I don’t have to be “moved” to act. I act because I am loving.
Or: I act not because I love not.
You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
Matthew 5:43-48
Love my enemy? That seems so far beyond what I can muster. I am prone to act in unloving ways toward others different from myself. Politics separates us. Faith does too. Facts I choose to believe (science vs denial) put’s almost insurmountable barriers between us.
Corona virus is either deadly dangerous or it’s “no worse than a seasonal flu” I’ve heard some say. If I believe the science, I devote myself to taking action commensurate with factual advice.
A shopper wearing a MAGA hat is coughing on the apples at the grocery. I suggest he cover his cough. He pulls within a foot of me and gargles up wads of phlegm and coughs in my face. That’s felony assault to me. Bioterrorism. To him? He’s merely mocking a fool. Or is it worse than that. Is he a genuine enemy?
If I’m unable to love under such circumstances, I’m failing my faith. This is really, really… hard.
First I need to realize that I am that man. I was like that before Christ came into my life. He’s no worse than a barking dog, owned by an abusive master – chained to his fear and loathing. Now I feel pity. Someone please let him loose, set that man free! Only Jesus can.
What’s worse? When the hostile MAGA-hatted dog attacks… The rabid, hateful, biting, spitting bile that threatens any different ones, kills-off in their heart plain passers-by and claims to do it in the name of the Lord…
Yes, white Evangelical circles have descended into terrible deception.
“Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.
Matthew 12:31-32
What action can I take under such circumstances? No dialogue possible.
Prayer.
Probably should have started with that in the first place …
Narrow Way Cafe 