Wasteful
Love
“I do
assert that one prepares for eternity not by being religious and
keeping the rules, but by living fully, loving wastefully, and daring
to be all that each of us has the capacity to be.”
John
Shelby Spong
Yesterday, at a memorial
service for the five police officers slain in Dallas, Chief of
Police, David Brown, invoked the words of a Stevie Wonder song from
the 1970's (“As”) to express to the grieving families what it
means to love wastefully. Some of his lines were:
“...Until
the day is night and night becomes the day, I'll be loving you
Until the
trees and stars just up and fly away, I'll be loving you.
Until the
earth starts turning right to left, I'll be loving you.
Until the
earth, just for the sun, denies itself, I'll be loving you.
Until you
are me and I am you, I'll be loving you...”
We humans get so caught
up in the rules, in who is right and who is wrong, who's doing things
correctly and who's not, whose god is the real God, and whose is not.
We forget the one simple, unchanging rule—do unto others as you
would have them do unto you. It doesn't matter which religion you
espouse, or whether you espouse any religion at all, that rule
applies. John Shelby Spong says, “I think we have to get back to
our spiritual nature. The way we have interpreted [religion] does not
do that.” Wasteful love does not exclude, it does not divide, it
does not separate and defend. Wasteful love unites, and cares and
provides.
Today, let's all spread
some wasteful love. Let's live fully, and be all that we have the
capacity to be. Eternity is now.
In the Spirit
Jane
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