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| A preening bluebird |
You shall not bear hatred for your brother in your heart.
Though you may have to reprove him,
do not incur sin because of him.
Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your fellow countrymen.
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
I am the LORD.”
Though you may have to reprove him,
do not incur sin because of him.
Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your fellow countrymen.
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
I am the LORD.”
Recently I had a quarrel with a patient at the Veterans Affairs Hospital. Sometimes the patients can be hurting or in distress and their pain turns to anger, which they take out on the staff. But this was not the case. It’s not hard to stay with a man in pain even when he’s angry at the world and blaming it on me. No, with that particular Veteran, I had a bone to pick. I didn’t think he was giving me the respect I am due.
In other words, this quarrel was entirely my fault.
Later, another chaplain who (by the grace of God) happened to attend that session, wondered what I was transferring to that young man. Why did I take revenge and cherish a grudge against that particular Veteran?
I need not divulge all that to my readership, but I will say I realize all the better how mysterious is the life of another human being. I cannot know what goes on within the mind of another person no matter how well I might know him. What does he think? How does she feel? What preconceptions shape a person’s reactions and response?
If the core of another human being’s life is so opaque to me, then I am certainly not qualified to judge her. I cannot imagine what it is like to be anyone but myself; and often I cannot understand myself! How many times have I asked, “What was I thinking?”
I know what I was thinking during that recent quarrel because I thought I knew what he was thinking. I thought I could see through his closed eyes and quiet manner. But everything I thought about him was nothing more than my own thoughts, fears, uncertainty and anxiety. It had nothing to do with him. I don't know the man from Adam.
The Book of Leviticus, one of the core books of the Bible, teaches God’s holiness code. This is how you are to be holy: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself!”
As I recall that incident I remember that the love of another human being begins with the encounter of Other -- a mysterious existence that is not myself. He is not here to please me, to understand me, or to agree with me. To love another human being is to respect the integrity and holiness of an Other's existence, with his or her own genetic code, history, formation, preferences, fears, traumas, pleasures, desires and so forth....
As we settle into this season of Lent, I remember my own personal definitions of Penance: "I am not God. Thank God!" and, "Have mercy on me, a sinner."
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.