Us & Them

34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35

This year seems to have been defined by division. Either you're one of us or you're one of them. Either you agree with me or you are my enemy. Either you think like I do or we can't be friends. How...lonely. Guess what! None of that really matters. Everyone wants to feel understood, embraced, and cared for, and when any person feels misunderstood, ostracized, and disregarded the result is division. We are often told that we need to be tolerant, but no one wants to just be tolerated. Everyone wants to be accepted. That doesn't mean we have to agree - just accept each person as they are, where they are.

How different would the world be if, when we looked at each other, we saw someone who (rather they know it or not) was created by, and is loved by God? The coworker who doesn't seem to be pulling his weight, the upstairs neighbor who makes too much noise, the driver who's not paying attention, the person on the news whose words/actions seem destructive. All were created by, and are loved by, God. There is no us or them - just we. We are all connected. We are all affected by each other. When one person is hurting, we all feel the pain eventually. In the waters of life, the ripples created by a single disturbance become waves felt miles from the point of origin. Let's strive to disperse love into the world in such proportions that the ripples created will become waves strong enough to destroy the barriers that keep us from truly seeing each other, knowing each other and sharing the grace of the Christ child we now celebrate.

-Paula Shockley

36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:36-40