Love One Another

" My children, I will be with you only a little while longer. I give you a new commandment: Love one another." -[John 13: 34-35].
" In a little while, the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you. . .  Do not let our hearts be troubled or afraid." -[ John 14: 23-29].


To say, "Love One Another", today, seems poignant and naive.

People who are not Christian, and who have not read the Word in the New Testament, would not recognize a Christian as one who "Loves one another as I [Jesus] has loved you." Critics of Christianity would not see that we are to know Jesus, and to recognize His followers as ones who show Love.  John 13: 34-35 says, "This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have Love for one another."

We modern people judge each other mercilessly :

A woman working in an office building is mocked for being "too thin".  It turns out she has cancer.

A guy who has turned to a vegetarian diet is ridiculed for being rigid about what he eats. It turns out he had blockage in most of his arteries. After heart surgery, his cardiologist told him that the only way to avoid a heart attack in the future is to eat no meat.

A student is harassed and bullied by another student. He goes to administration to ask for mediation and recourse. The student's grades plummet. He is told he did not "ask for help", and he is kicked out of school for poor work. The bully remains in school with no consequence.

A woman joins a prayer group. She has had many traumas in her life. She asks the prayer group to pray for her. The groups-leader prays, 'I hope you are not learning to become a victim.'

A young wife and mother learns that she has a serious and chronic disease. She tells her Christian friends about the new exercise and diet regimen recommended by her doctor.  One "friend", claiming to be a Christian, says that the mother is foolishly trying to cure herself and does not have enough Faith.

An older lady sits in the last pew at church. She has a racking cough. Each time Scripture is read or the pastor speaks, she murmurs, "Yes, Lord." And yet, people seated near her make faces and mock her. She has a chronic lung disease and is on oxygen.

We are known to each other, and to God, by our Love.

Our lack of Love today is heartless - and heartbreaking.

What passes for News - have you noticed?  - is actually shameless and shocking gossip, innuendo, cruelty, and lies. A newscaster or an online outlet broadcasts all this. Then it all spreads on social media. Each time the cruelties and lies are repeated, it is another nail crucifying Jesus.

We cannot claim to be Christian each time we participate vicariously in the Crucifixion of Jesus.
We cannot walk closer to Jesus, even as we spread lies and Hate and judgment against others whom we barely know. We cannot seek to love God, if we cannot love each other.

Loving one another is "Soul Work".  It means walking alongside one another, not standing to the side and slinging arrows. It means taking the time to comprehend each other's Joys, Sorrows and challenges.

It means "going deeper" into the Heart of another. . . Not judging from the surface and walking away, feeling smug and superior.

Love is a lot of hard work. But in the end, LOVE is all we really have!

[Related Posting: "The ABC's of Love", 4/27/13; "Hate = Murder", 2/127/11.]

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