It seemed to me that if I truly feel this way then I ought to be willing to do something to try to heal the wound, so I'm going to try an experiment. For so long as the spirit moves me I'll be posting, each day, the current gospel from the (Episcopal/Lutheran) Revised Common Lectionary, along with the same day's meditation courtesy of Rev. Galen Guengerich, from All Souls UU in New York City. The RCL is exclusively of biblical origin, while the UU meditations draw from a wide variety of relatively modern authors.
My intent is to conclude with some comments about how the parallel readings strike me. I have no real idea how it will work out; from statistical principles alone I would expect a few times where the two are strongly parallel, many where they don't seem to have much to do with each other, and a few which may be directly contradictory. I do not intend to discuss these passages each day in detail, and if I did intend to, I doubt very much that I could. I imagine articles could (and in the case of the gospels, probably have) been written about each. Nevertheless, I hope that the exercise will provide some insight, and with luck, occasional serendipity.
From the Revised Common Lectionary for April 4, 2014
Jesus said, "I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you.
"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful." (Luke 6:27-36)From A Common Meditation for All Souls
Talk about it only enough to do it. Dream about it only enough to feel it. Think about it only enough to understand it. Contemplate it only enough to be it.
(Jean Toomer, 1894 – 1967)
My initial reaction on reading the second selection was that it was about moderation and balance. After consideration I don't think that's right; it seems much more focused on moving beyond contemplation and into action. It was particularly appropriate for today because I was actually thinking that it would be more sensible to launch this experiment a bit in the future and this convinced me to go ahead and "just do it." Yes, we need to talk, dream, think, contemplate, but if we're not careful those can be traps we don't leave. If anything, this suggests that we should be a bit hasty on the trigger.
If the second selection is, in however small a way, about moderation, the first points up an area in which we ought to be all-in, all the time: loving. There is no contemplation required to decide if a given situation will be enhanced by our love, no consideration of cost and benefit, no allocation of resources. We simply must love, now and always, and we must love everyone and everything, even, and perhaps especially, those whom we least regard as worthy of it. In fact, if facing a situation where we are asked for some, we should not limit ourselves to what is asked but give even more. Lois McMaster Bujold once had a character describe marriage as a very strange kind of bargain: in one, you give up everything in order to get everything. This selection simply extends that point of view to be universal.
It is, of course, easy enough for me to talk - doing is an entirely different subject.
If the second selection is, in however small a way, about moderation, the first points up an area in which we ought to be all-in, all the time: loving. There is no contemplation required to decide if a given situation will be enhanced by our love, no consideration of cost and benefit, no allocation of resources. We simply must love, now and always, and we must love everyone and everything, even, and perhaps especially, those whom we least regard as worthy of it. In fact, if facing a situation where we are asked for some, we should not limit ourselves to what is asked but give even more. Lois McMaster Bujold once had a character describe marriage as a very strange kind of bargain: in one, you give up everything in order to get everything. This selection simply extends that point of view to be universal.
It is, of course, easy enough for me to talk - doing is an entirely different subject.
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