Open
to God
“Another
of the Bible's correlative metaphors for our condition and the
solution is 'closed hearts' and 'open hearts.' The condition of the
heart matters. The heart, the self at its deepest level, can be
turned toward God or away from God, open to God or closed to God.”
Marcus J.
Borg (The Heart of Christianity)
Biblical scholar, Marcus
Borg, went to great lengths in his book, The Heart of Christianity,
to help us understand the heart of God at the center of Jesus'
teachings. In Matthew, Jesus summed it up in this one statement, “be
compassionate, as God is compassionate.” A simple, direct
commandment. Again, there were no qualifiers. Jesus didn't say, be
compassionate, but not to people of other religions, and not to
immigrants, not to homosexuals, not to people of color or those who
speak a different language or who look different from you. Be
compassionate—period.
Understanding that having
a heart that is open to God means having compassion for all God's
creation, is an important spiritual milestone. Whether you are
Christian or Jew, Muslim or Hindu, Buddhist or Taoist—the primary
feature of spirituality is compassion. And that compassion extends to
everyone and everything in this world. The one Biblical reference
that everybody can quote (probably because it appears regularly at
football games) is John 3:16—“For God so loved the world, that he
gave his only son...” We pass right over “for God so loved the
world” and grab hold of, “that whosoever believes...” But,
clearly, that which we call God loves the world—not just you and
me, and not just those who call themselves Christians, not just
humanity at all. The world. The whole world; the whole of creation.
God loves it. And if we are followers of God, if we are open to God,
then we too have compassion for and love of the world. Otherwise, we
are closed to God—it's just that simple.
I think we all need to
understand the meaning of compassion better than we do. I know I do.
It's one of those simple ideas that is exceptionally hard to do.
Luckily, we have opportunities every day to practice. So, today,
let's lean in the direction of compassion. To quote a 12-step slogan,
“progress not perfection.” It's okay to ask Jesus, or God, or the
Universe to help you do that. I surely will.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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