Meditation for July 21st

Crossing the Road for One Another - Henri Nouwen

Mark 12:28-31
One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."

We become neighbors when we are willing to cross the road for one another. There is so much separation and segregation: between black people and white people, between gay people and straight people, between young people and old people, between sick people and healthy people, between prisoners and free people, between Jews and Gentiles, Muslims and Christians, Protestants and Catholics, Greek Catholics and Latin Catholics.

There is a lot of road crossing to do. We are all very busy in our own circles. We have our own people to go to and our own affairs to take care of. But if we could cross the street once in a while and pay attention to what is happening on the other side, we might become neighbors.

*****

I recieved this in an email via Henri Nouwen's site. I've read a handful of his books, and I have gotten a lot out of them. I suggest everyone to read "Life of the Beloved" especially if you are currently serving the church or another ministry, so therefore, everyone should read it.

As I read the above, all I could think of was Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech, specifically the last part of it:

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

You can find his full speech here.

Have we come so far, to not be judging of other? MLK Jr made this speech in 1963, wanting equality for all. Though the barriers of segregation has come down, do you find your self segregating from others? The front porch sitting communities that have become a thing of the past, turning into back porch grilling, with privacy fencing. Though we may not be segregating people because of skin color, we still segregate the world from ourselves. How can we change our perceptive in life to find a way to commuicate with our neighbors and have a 'front porch sitting' relationship with them? "Love your neighbor as yourself."

I don't have the answer, not has God graced me with reason today. More of food for thought. I know I fall short as well in this manner. I've lived at my house since November, and just a few months back, I started talking to my neighbor, and I couldn't tell you what prohibited me. But I love saying hello to both he and his wife, and seeing them smile when I get a chance to chat. I don't know if its made a difference to them, but it does to me, to see them smile just chatting about life and family.

~Courtney S-B~