After a simple lunch with Di out in the sun on the deck, I worked on the wee stone walk in the garden. Then we did our weekly Zoom visit with the clan in Brooklyn. And a short time after our Zoom-visit, I Zoomed with my community of L'Arche in Ottawa. We talked together of how it is we feel loved - personally and in community - and it was lovely. I shared a brief homily and a few new Taize songs, too. My text was part of the gospel reading assigned for this day:
REFLECTION
To love one another as Jesus teaches is simple – and costly. Jesus gave his friends a model for them to practice when he washed their feet: it shows us that love is an action that includes tender caring for another and vulnerability. Love goes both ways – we give and we receive – and it takes time, commitment, patience, practice and trust. St. Paul taught his friends about the love of Jesus, too saying: “Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. Love doesn’t strut, doesn’t have a swelled head, doesn’t force itself on others, isn’t always “me first,” doesn’t fly off the handle, doesn’t keep score of the sins of others, doesn’t revel when others grovel, takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, puts up with anything, trusts God always, always looks for the best, never looks back, but keeps going to the end.” (I Corinthians 13, The Message)
In community at L’Arche we try to love one another every day as Jesus commanded – and we know this is always a work in progress. None of us gets it completely right all the time, so we keep trying and keep being forgiven by the community – and God. Loving in the spirit of Jesus takes practice– and this became a whole lot harder when the pandemic hit. Overnight, we were living in lock down, something no one signed-on for: suddenly, we were having to love like Jesus 24/7 and into the foreseeable future, too. This is what happens in real time. We are so not in control of very much. What has been remarkable – even holy – is how well everyone has been loving one another: core members as well as assistants, families and friends, too. It isn’t easy. It isn’t always pretty. And no one knows for certain how long it is going to last. Probably at LEAST through July – and maybe longer. All we can do right now is our best in every moment and trust God for the rest. Being women and men committed to the love of Jesus takes work – and trust – and lots of forgiveness. Today we give thanks to God for everyone in our community who keep sharing the love of Jesus every day – and ask for God’s forgiveness, too.
I prayed with Judy Woodruff, David Brooks and Mark Shields during the PBS News Hour, cleared off the deck in anticipation of a wicked thunder storm, cooked dinner and shared a few hours watching "After Life" and "Travels with My Father" with Di on Netflix. The rain is still falling as the day closes. Tomorrow, God willing, we'll be outside in the sun planting bulbs and seeds and working on another part of the garden. It is one of the ways we stay focused and return thanks to God during this season of isolation. I came across this quote from the late Gerald May going through evening emails that captures something of my soul right now:
TEXT: John 15: 12-15
Jesus said to his disciples: “This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.
Jesus said to his disciples: “This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.
To love one another as Jesus teaches is simple – and costly. Jesus gave his friends a model for them to practice when he washed their feet: it shows us that love is an action that includes tender caring for another and vulnerability. Love goes both ways – we give and we receive – and it takes time, commitment, patience, practice and trust. St. Paul taught his friends about the love of Jesus, too saying: “Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. Love doesn’t strut, doesn’t have a swelled head, doesn’t force itself on others, isn’t always “me first,” doesn’t fly off the handle, doesn’t keep score of the sins of others, doesn’t revel when others grovel, takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, puts up with anything, trusts God always, always looks for the best, never looks back, but keeps going to the end.” (I Corinthians 13, The Message)
In community at L’Arche we try to love one another every day as Jesus commanded – and we know this is always a work in progress. None of us gets it completely right all the time, so we keep trying and keep being forgiven by the community – and God. Loving in the spirit of Jesus takes practice– and this became a whole lot harder when the pandemic hit. Overnight, we were living in lock down, something no one signed-on for: suddenly, we were having to love like Jesus 24/7 and into the foreseeable future, too. This is what happens in real time. We are so not in control of very much. What has been remarkable – even holy – is how well everyone has been loving one another: core members as well as assistants, families and friends, too. It isn’t easy. It isn’t always pretty. And no one knows for certain how long it is going to last. Probably at LEAST through July – and maybe longer. All we can do right now is our best in every moment and trust God for the rest. Being women and men committed to the love of Jesus takes work – and trust – and lots of forgiveness. Today we give thanks to God for everyone in our community who keep sharing the love of Jesus every day – and ask for God’s forgiveness, too.
I prayed with Judy Woodruff, David Brooks and Mark Shields during the PBS News Hour, cleared off the deck in anticipation of a wicked thunder storm, cooked dinner and shared a few hours watching "After Life" and "Travels with My Father" with Di on Netflix. The rain is still falling as the day closes. Tomorrow, God willing, we'll be outside in the sun planting bulbs and seeds and working on another part of the garden. It is one of the ways we stay focused and return thanks to God during this season of isolation. I came across this quote from the late Gerald May going through evening emails that captures something of my soul right now:
So in the end I am left only with hope.
I hope the nights are transformative.
I hope every dawn brings deeper love,
for each of us individually and for
the world as a whole. I hope that
John of the Cross was right when
he said the intellect is transformed
into faith, and the will into love
and the memory into – hope.
~ Gerald May in THE DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL
I hope the nights are transformative.
I hope every dawn brings deeper love,
for each of us individually and for
the world as a whole. I hope that
John of the Cross was right when
he said the intellect is transformed
into faith, and the will into love
and the memory into – hope.
~ Gerald May in THE DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL
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