World
Changing Love
“But if
one can love boundlessly, then folks on the margins become utterly
convinced of their own goodness. We find our awakened connection to
each other—a focused, balanced attention to the person in front of
us. To reach and be reached, to savor the world, seeking only to
receive the gift. And the world gets saved, and a decision gets made
to live in each other's hearts. An exquisite mutuality, lighting the
whole sky.”
Gregory
Boyle (Barking to the Choir)
There have been several
studies recently comparing the level of violence in the world now to
what it was in the past. Every one finds that we have less than we've
ever had—not just in the US, but in the world. Hard to believe,
given the nightly news clips of Syria bombing her own people, the
Buddhists in Myanmar conducting genocide on Rohingya Muslims, an
endless war heating up once again in Afghanistan, and daily shootings
right here in the "land of the free, home of the brave." Perhaps, given
that there is no longer a massive campaign to eradicate millions of
human beings in gas chambers, or marauding “Christian” groups
like the KKK hanging people from trees, we can call this a less
violent period. What we have instead is a full-out crisis of the
heart.
I am encouraged to see
the world's response to the young people of Parkland, Florida, who have been
speaking up and demanding change to gun laws. The sight of their
beautiful youth and their broken hearts has brought a new face to
this issue that cannot be denied. Their honest, tearful confronting
of power with both plea and promise, vulnerability and strength has
world-changing potency. The tragedy has opened their hearts and love
for their brothers and sisters of every stripe is flowing out.
Do you remember the story
of Romeo and Juliet? In it, two families—the Capulets and the
Montagues—had a longstanding grudge against one another. They
battled at every opportunity, generation after generation. But these
two young people, one a Capulet and one a Montague, fell in mad-love
with each other. They tried to keep their passion a secret, and
concocted a scheme that would allow them to run away together. It
backfired, and both of them died at their own hands. In the final
scene, the Prince of the land speaks these lines:
“Where
be these enemies—Capulet! Montague!
See what a
scourge is laid upon your hates,
That
heaven finds means to kill your joys with love;
And I, for
winking at your discords too,
Have lost
a brace of kinsmen: all are punish'd.”
We are overdue for a
purification of the heart. All of us have been punished enough. Let us lay down our weapons, our bitter
words and hatred. We don't want to continue killing our joys. I am
encouraged by the movement toward such an end, catalyzed by the love
of our children for one another. May the rest of us be moved to share
their boundless love. It is the only force powerful enough to change
the world.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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