Reflection for Sunday, May 17, 2020
Scripture: John 13:34-35 “The New Commandment”
I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
Love One Another!
It’s almost a cliché, isn’t it? Yeah, yeah, we know that’s what we are supposed to do, but….. it’s not always easy. It sure isn’t profitable! And it reeks of weakness and sentimentality.
But what if love is a verb – an action word – something we choose to do? We can choose to act kindly, compassionately, even toward those we don’t actually like at all. We can rise above the feelings of disgust, or pity, or judgment that are our initial reactions, reminding ourselves of the new commandment.
We are not speaking here of the Valentine’s Day kind of love. We are speaking more of the Mother Theresa kind of love – love that expresses itself in right and just action because all humans are children of the Creator. It doesn’t matter that the person is old and dying, or diseased and unable to care for him or herself, or cognitively impaired, or incontinent… None of this takes away from the duty to care – for Christians, the duty to obey Christ’s commandment to love one another.
I am reflecting on this today because the pandemic has brought the plight of our elders in care homes fully into view. As a society, we collectively have been ignoring the neglect of our seniors for decades – maybe more.
Our pursuit of our personal ambitions, our need for ever more productivity, and our blind obeisance to the profit motive have resulted in what Dr. Theresa Tam has called a “national disaster”. We are now asking ourselves why is this happening? How has this come to be the norm? There’s no one at home anymore to take care of the children or the old folks. There are lots of reasons for this, and many of them are good ones, but the onus is on all of us, I believe, to make sure that the care that is provided is well funded, respectful, and responsive to the needs of each individual.
It is painfully obvious that in many places across Canada we have failed dismally to do this. This situation is holding up a mirror to all of us - and we are probably finding it difficult to look into that mirror.
It’s too easy to play the blame game – too easy to point fingers at somebody else. But all that is way too easy. This is a systemic problem that will not be easily solved without our collective will to do better. We need to ask ourselves some hard questions: why is it OK to profit from the inadequate care of our helpless seniors? Why is it OK to pay people minimum wages for the important work of caring for the vulnerable among us? How is it that a person has to put 2 or 3 precarious jobs together to make a barely livable wage with NO benefits?
As followers of Jesus we are called to a higher calling than the imperative to make ever bigger profits. We are called to love each other as he loves us. We are called to seek justice, and resist evil, and walk humbly with our God. We are called to take care of each other, and that is a very high calling indeed.
My prayer: God of all, fill us with your love. Teach us how to love the neighbour you send to us.
Peace be with us all. Amen.
Scripture: John 13:34-35 “The New Commandment”
I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
Love One Another!
It’s almost a cliché, isn’t it? Yeah, yeah, we know that’s what we are supposed to do, but….. it’s not always easy. It sure isn’t profitable! And it reeks of weakness and sentimentality.
But what if love is a verb – an action word – something we choose to do? We can choose to act kindly, compassionately, even toward those we don’t actually like at all. We can rise above the feelings of disgust, or pity, or judgment that are our initial reactions, reminding ourselves of the new commandment.
We are not speaking here of the Valentine’s Day kind of love. We are speaking more of the Mother Theresa kind of love – love that expresses itself in right and just action because all humans are children of the Creator. It doesn’t matter that the person is old and dying, or diseased and unable to care for him or herself, or cognitively impaired, or incontinent… None of this takes away from the duty to care – for Christians, the duty to obey Christ’s commandment to love one another.
I am reflecting on this today because the pandemic has brought the plight of our elders in care homes fully into view. As a society, we collectively have been ignoring the neglect of our seniors for decades – maybe more.
Our pursuit of our personal ambitions, our need for ever more productivity, and our blind obeisance to the profit motive have resulted in what Dr. Theresa Tam has called a “national disaster”. We are now asking ourselves why is this happening? How has this come to be the norm? There’s no one at home anymore to take care of the children or the old folks. There are lots of reasons for this, and many of them are good ones, but the onus is on all of us, I believe, to make sure that the care that is provided is well funded, respectful, and responsive to the needs of each individual.
It is painfully obvious that in many places across Canada we have failed dismally to do this. This situation is holding up a mirror to all of us - and we are probably finding it difficult to look into that mirror.
It’s too easy to play the blame game – too easy to point fingers at somebody else. But all that is way too easy. This is a systemic problem that will not be easily solved without our collective will to do better. We need to ask ourselves some hard questions: why is it OK to profit from the inadequate care of our helpless seniors? Why is it OK to pay people minimum wages for the important work of caring for the vulnerable among us? How is it that a person has to put 2 or 3 precarious jobs together to make a barely livable wage with NO benefits?
As followers of Jesus we are called to a higher calling than the imperative to make ever bigger profits. We are called to love each other as he loves us. We are called to seek justice, and resist evil, and walk humbly with our God. We are called to take care of each other, and that is a very high calling indeed.
My prayer: God of all, fill us with your love. Teach us how to love the neighbour you send to us.
Peace be with us all. Amen.
