At church this morning, the topic was love for God and our neighbors. I’ll quote from the Litany of Confession that we used this morning, and then I’ll offer my comments.
“Jesus calls us to love God with all our hearts. All our hearts? More than our families and friends, our homes, our jobs, our cars, our computers? More than all of these because when we love God with all our heart, it is that love which influences us and enables us to act lovingly towards not only our family and friends—-who may be easy to love—-but towards others who may not be so easy to love. And we realize that people matter more than things. Forgive us, O God, when we fail to put You first in our lives.”
“Jesus calls us to love God with all our mind. Surely not all of our mind. More than our thirst for knowledge, our learning in schools and beyond, the books we read, our advances in information technology? More than all these because when we love God with all our mind, it is God’s creative love which then inspires our thoughts and our will so that our wisdom and knowledge are shaped by God’s kingdom values of justice and mercy, love and peace.”
Does loving God enable us to love others? I once heard a Bible study group say that, if we are not at peace with God, then we will not be at peace with other people, for, on the natural level, we always try to cut ourselves the best deal, and that is not necessarily conducive to good relationships. I cannot speak for others or make universal pronouncements, for there are non-Christians who are more ethical and loving than I am. But I can speak for myself. In my case, my religion does enable me to love others more than I would without it. When I remind myself that God loves everyone, then that encourages me to love—-perhaps a little more—-those whom I cannot stand. And, while this may appear mercenary (if that’s the right word) for some people, I try to trust that God will reward me for loving the difficult. And yet, I wouldn’t like other Christians having that sort of attitude towards me—-being nice to me to pat themselves on the back, or to get a reward from God. But maybe any motivation to live at peace with others is good.
How can I love God with my mind? I agree with the litany that knowledge should be placed in a context that promotes justice, mercy, love, and peace. But I’m not sure how I can apply that rule to my own field of study, religion. Many of you would find that puzzling, since is not religion all about justice, mercy, love, and peace? It should be, but there are times when it is not, and I would say that even about certain perspectives in the biblical writings. I guess what I get from that part of the litany is that there is something more important than my intellect, and that is love: God’s love for me, my love for God, others’ love for me, my love for others. Hopefully, my learning can inspire me to love.