Judaism and Christianity are about what we can and cannot do. You can’t have other gods – you can honor your parents. You can’t mistreat the poor – you can love your neighbor. And while, yes, at face value, Christianity seems to be less about rules than Judaism, it really isn’t. We love to trot out the part where Jesus is telling His disciples in the Gospel of John that they have one commandment – to love one another – but the Apostle Paul fixed that. And the idea that all the laws of His faith must be filtered by the love of God, self, and neighbor is beautiful, but that doesn’t always work that way. We are imperfect people trying to understand a perfect God using what I believe are imperfect words of guidance.
I think a lot about what or who God is – probably too much, for some people’s tastes. I can’t define what God is for you; I can only consider how God impacts my life. I believe that I love God with everything I have, but I also know that I fall short. I love myself, but I still fall victim to imposter syndrome. And my neighbor? That is always a tough one; not all neighbors are equally loveable, which is probably the point Jesus is trying to make. Loving our neighbor doesn’t mean we have to like them or agree with them or even not get annoyed with them, but it does mean that we need to give them the benefit of the doubt. We haven’t walked in their shoes.
I think that God is patient and forgiving with us, but maybe not 100%. I don’t believe in universal salvation, so there are some people who probably won’t make the cut to be part of the communion of saints in heaven. And I am not clued in on who they are – could be any of us if we screw up enough – or hate enough. And I believe that God’s grace is the greatest gift we have presently, which gives me hope. Our job, I guess, is to be as graceful as possible with our limited means. God is concerned about how we behave and treat each other, but I think we make up stuff about what we think God wants to fill in where we think there are gaps. God is our biggest fan, I think, even when we don’t deserve the applause.
The trick may be to consider that God is something to me that God might not be to you. If you want to believe that God cares about what you eat, go ahead. If you want to be part of a church that has a hierarchy, be my guest. I think God is okay with our choices, as long as they don’t hurt others. God is cool like that. Practice your faith the way you think God is; just don’t use it to hurt others who choose otherwise. God is concerned with freedom. God is concerned about individual rights. God is expecting us to be the same.
Prayer – Holy God, You have made us all beautiful; help us to become more so, and to appreciate the beauty in others. Amen.
Today’s art is “God is Love” by Anthony Falbo.