{"id":23787,"date":"2024-05-31T10:42:42","date_gmt":"2024-05-31T14:42:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=23787"},"modified":"2024-05-31T10:42:42","modified_gmt":"2024-05-31T14:42:42","slug":"loving-large-is-our-lifes-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=23787","title":{"rendered":"Loving Large is Our Life&#8217;s Work"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Love God, Love Your Neighbor - Dale Sechrest - lyric video (with all my heart)\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EzaYC6eyKqI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked, \u201cWhich is the first of all the commandments?\u201d Jesus replied, \u201cThe first is this: \u2026\u2018<strong>You shall love the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.\u2019 The second is like it: \u2018You shall love your neighbor as yourself.\u2019\u201d<br>\u2014Mark 12:28\u201331\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>In this homily, Father Richard considers Jesus\u2019 response to the question, \u201c<\/em><em>Which is the first of all the commandments?\u201d:<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>I don\u2019t think any of us really know how to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We might want to love like that, but how do we put all the parts of ourselves together and actually do it? It takes our whole life to figure out what Jesus\u2019 words might even mean. Then Jesus says, \u201cYou must love your neighbor as you love yourself\u201d (Mark 12:31). Do any of us do that? Do we really love other people? Do we really give them as much attention as we give to ourselves? I don\u2019t think so.<\/strong> We need to recognize, of course, that Jesus does imply that you must love yourself. If we hate ourselves, then how can we possibly know how to love our neighbor? We have to know proper and appropriate love of self, but we cannot stop there.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Imagine how different the world would be if we just obeyed that one commandment\u2014to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. It would be the most mighty political, social upheaval imaginable<\/strong>. The world would be radically different if human beings really treated other people as they would like to be treated. We can take this as a simple rule of thumb:\u00a0<strong><em>What would I want from that person right now<\/em>?\u00a0<em>What would be helpful for me to receive?\u00a0<\/em>Well, there\u2019s our commandment. There\u2019s our obligation to do to others!\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s so simple that we can see why we put all our attention on the Ten Commandments, or the hundreds of other regulations culture and religion place on us. <strong>It\u2019s much easier to worry about things that keep us \u201cpure,\u201d so to speak, but are of little consequence.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think the scribe is asking a very good question. <strong>After all is said and done, it comes down to loving God and loving our neighbor\u2014and that implies loving ourselves. If I said this without quoting Jesus, I could be accused of oversimplifying or ignoring some of the important commandments, but thank God Jesus said it first. <\/strong>He taught that it\u2019s all about love, and <strong>in the end, that\u2019s all we\u2019re all going to be judged for. Did we love? Did we love life? Did we love ourselves? Did we love God and did we love our neighbor? <\/strong>Concentrating on that takes just about our whole lifetime and <strong>we won\u2019t have much time left over to worry about what other people are doing or not doing. Our job is to love God, love ourselves, and love our neighbor.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Story From Our Community<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><em>One of my neighbors is very outspoken with her political views.<\/em>\u00a0<em>Her yard signs sometimes aggravate other neighbors by promoting ideas that some would call conspiracy theories and other divisive ideas. As I have been reading the Daily Meditations, I have felt the spirit of Love and reconciliation grow in my heart. One day, I thanked her for her devotion, explaining that she was an important voice in our community. She looked shocked, and then quickly softened her defensive manner toward me. I felt a shift and something was transformed that day. Now, as I communicate with her, she trusts that I respect her dignity. I have begun to fold her into my life as a gift. Thank you for preparing me for this powerful moment of grace.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>___________________________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>5 For Friday John Chaffee<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Grace and Peace, Friends!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We are speeding toward Summer now, and all that season brings! &nbsp;Sunlight, outside time, adventures, and whatnot. &nbsp;Spring here near Philly was pretty wet, but I admit the summers are great.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This Spring was somewhat challenging for me to be teaching an online class, teaching theology in the Philly prison system, and maintaining what hours I could at REI. &nbsp;It felt for a long time as if everyday off from one part-time job was spent working at a different part-time job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This means that for the past 8 months, I have not been as able to work on other projects, but I am excited to have a few more hours back each week this summer to work on other things (see below the 5 quotes to find what I am doing)!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On a side note, and as many of you already know, I thoroughly enjoy the works of Thomas Merton and did a silent week at his former abbey back in 2019. &nbsp;Since then, I have been a member of the International Thomas Merton Society and recently reached out to start back up the Philly Chapter of the Thomas Merton Society. &nbsp;I hope to connect with other Merton-ites and generally share Merton with new people. &nbsp;When that starts up, I will let you know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That&#8217;s all I can think of for now so\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Onto this week&#8217;s 5 quotes!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Always feel free to forward this email to friends if you want to share a quote with them!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1.<br>&#8220;Concepts create idols; only wonder comprehends anything. People kill one another over idols. Wonder makes us fall to our knees.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Gregory of Nyssa<br>&nbsp;<br>Idolatry is sneaky, and my oh my how we love to cling to and violently defend our ideas of what we think &#8216;God&#8217; is.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>2.<br>&#8220;I\u2019m not sure I have made this clear: self-knowledge is so important that even if you were drawn directly into heaven in prayer, I wouldn\u2019t want you to replace your practices of humble and honest self-reflection.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>St. Teresa of Avila in Interior Castle<br>&nbsp;<br>Recently, I ordered a new translation of Interior Castle. &nbsp;This is my 4th reread of this classic text, and while it is familiar it still feels fresh. &nbsp;It is interesting to know a text so well that you can pick up the nuances of 4 translations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Teresa of Avila has much to teach modern Evangelicalism, which in my mind has a faulty understanding of self-knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>While working in the church world I saw how Evangelicalism only wants people to focus on their breaking of commandments, rules, or codes but not become aware of the ways we are negatively affected by traumas and attachment.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This means that &#8220;as long as you follow the rules, you are good.&#8221; \u00a0In reality, though, we can &#8220;follow the rules&#8221; and yet deeply hurt those close to us because we are acting out of a certain reactivity or need for control that is unhealthy and ultimately, unholy.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the 1600s, Teresa saw this dynamic at play and while she did not have the modern resources of psychology, I believe she was long ahead of the curve in knowing the importance of self-inquiry and self-knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>3.<br>&#8220;Clinging to your identity as a &#8216;spiritual person&#8217; is still an ego attachment.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Unknown<br>\u00a0<br><strong>The thought of being completely without an ego is intriguing to me. \u00a0First off, who knows if it is even possible, and secondarily, I wonder about the egolessness of Jesus.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Consider this, <strong>Jesus never reacted in such a way that when he was misunderstood, slandered, or accused he took it as a personal affront.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This communicates to me something about his lack of ego. \u00a0The Philippians Hymn refers to the idea of &#8220;kenosis&#8221; or &#8220;the process of pouring out.&#8221; \u00a0<strong>Jesus was so completely poured out\/emptied that he had no ego to defend or broadcast. \u00a0He was able to be completely free for the sake of Goodness, Beauty, Truth, and Love.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>4.<br>&#8220;Sit silently in your cell and it will teach you everything.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>An Early Desert Monastic Proverb<br>&nbsp;<br>Early desert monasticism had so much right!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The ability to sit alone with ourselves is not simply revealing, it leaves us completely vulnerable to our thoughts, attachments, addictions, idols, grief, need for connection, and so on.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Perhaps that is why we are so uncomfortable being alone and so often misunderstand the difference between being alone and lonely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>To sit alone and in silence is a deafening experience.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Without the ability to distract our minds, hearts, or souls, we are left having to finally listen to all the unaddressed themes swirling around in us. \u00a0<strong>It takes courage, it takes bravery, it takes conscious commitment, and choice to engage those parts of ourselves.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>5.<br>&#8220;<strong>Strength is creative when it expresses itself by making the weak strong\u2026 Strength that shows its power directly without reference to strengthening the weak is pagan.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Kosuke Koyama in Three Mile an Hour God<br>&nbsp;<br>This one jumped out at me. &nbsp;I have been reading Three Mile an Hour God, which is a collection of essays from Kosuke Koyama, and within a few pages, I could tell how it is a classic text. &nbsp;With wit and superb insight, Koyama expounds upon topics that have reasonable critiques of Western culture. &nbsp;Speaking as a Japanese theologian, his words both made me chuckle as well as pause.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked, \u201cWhich is the first of all the commandments?\u201d Jesus replied, \u201cThe first is this: \u2026\u2018You shall love the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.\u2019 The second is like it: \u2018You shall love your neighbor [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23787"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23787"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23787\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23788,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23787\/revisions\/23788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}