The Mandate

Picture copied from Eutychusfell.blogspot.com

"I give you a new commandment, that you love one another" – Jesus of Nazareth

It seems that “love” ought to be automatically understood and practiced by everyone.

Is there anyone who doesn’t want to love or to be loved? Is there anyone who would rather be hurt than healed, or who would rather be abandoned than embraced?

Why do we need a rule or commandment that says, “Thou shalt love”? It seems that such a command should be unnecessary and unneeded; that we should be geared to love, care, and empathize with one another; and yet so often such is not the case.

We are a competitive species. We want to keep what is ours and we crave what others have. Even in the midst of the mundane, we throttle up to stay ahead of those who share the road – our road – with us.

At the grocer’s, we hold our carts in mid-aisle so we can shop both sides for our own convenience. Why? Because, “I’ll just be a moment.”

We rationalize our actions because it is far easier to explain away what we are doing than to admit we are being stupid, lazy, or selfish; or perhaps we’re ashamed that we’re not number one, that we never have been and never will be.

Shame invites us to pitch our tents in the Campgrounds of insanity, where we can drop hook-less lines into the pond of Despond and despair of ever catching anything of substance.

If you are caught in this cycle of insanity, is there anything you can do to stop it? Is there any way to get off this crazy merry-go-round; to find peace, happiness, and just enough joy in life in which to be truly free?

God must think so; otherwise he would be insane to issue commands – especially this command to “LOVE.”

But command love he does. If you want to learn to love, you must do as God does. It is not enough to have the idea of love in mind; it must be converted into action – just like faith. “Be not hearers of the word only, but doers of the word as well,” says the Bible.

So, what do we do? We do as Jesus did; strive for genuine humility.

The hazard, of course, is that in not being number one we may well become someone else’s door mat. It doesn’t feel good when someone walks all over you.

It feels equally terrible being humiliated, being forced to beg for help while those with the capacity to assist stand idly by, ignoring those pleas.

But I understand where they are coming from; the first step for true humility is to stand in the shoes of the other person – to see the world from inside their skin.

Sometime back my wife and I were returning to the car following one of our daily walks through the local wetlands. I got into the car and detected a horrible stench, having apparently stepped in something gooey and unpleasant.

When we got home, I hosed off my shoes as best I could and tossed them into the washer, using the hottest water we had, but to no avail. See, I had tromped on a slug, and slug-slime (apparently) just doesn’t come off. I didn’t want to throw the shoes out, for they were quite nice, but I was at a loss for what more to do.

While I pondered my options, our daughter Jennifer took the offending shoe and grabbed an old work-knife and assorted tools, and began scraping out the gastropod bit by bit. She did for me what I was not wanting (or willing) to do for myself.

I like to think I have done many nice things for people in my life (including Jen), but I also know myself well enough to admit I would more likely than not have said, “You stepped in it, you deal with it.”

That’s law, but what Jennifer did was pure grace.

“Love one another as I have loved you,” is a command to practice grace in life. Yes, we’ve all “stepped in it,” but God has dealt with it; therefore, be kind to one another in this, our valley. We really don’t have to slug it out any more; just love one another – and watch where you step.

Happy Easter, folks!