the rule golden

A reflection:

Jesus lived demonstrating loving kindness to all people. He taught us what we now call the Golden Rule: to love our neighbors as ourselves.

But perhaps we consider reversing that message, to read: love ourselves as we would love our neighbors. Greet ourselves with respect, consideration, kindness and appreciation. Nurture a healthy relationship with ourselves. Value our own ideas, rights, responsabilities and perspectives. Value our roles with our partners, families, workplace and community. Acknowledge our own uniqueness. Accept ourselves as we are: our bodies, our noses, our hips and our bones. Celebrate the freedom of our choices, interests and dreams. Aspire to live in compassion towards our own beings, with self-forgiveness, support and self-care. Hold dear the very core of who we are.

Would we not do this for our neighbors? our closest loved ones? for our children? for fellow members in our community of faith? And are our neighbor not wishing this for us too?

Often I find Chrisitanity very other-focused, looking toward "those people over there" and rarely looking inward toward "this person, me, right here". Without a doubt, the marginalized, the silenced, those in need are incredibly important to consider as part of our Christian calling. And while I believe whole-heartedly that we are moved to justice, kindness and walking humbly with others, let's not forget that to someone else we are an "other" too.

Caring for ourselves isn't selfish. Its valuing God's most beautiful creation in your life: you. It’s helping your neighbor fulfill their golden rule, towards you. Nurturing and respecting ourselves is sustainable and energy-generating because truly loving ourselves, and accepting God's unconditional love of us, can only empower us to fulfill our lifes' work as a God and Community loving people.

Unfortunately, living in today's society means living within a culture that thrives on self-hatred and a disrespect of our fundamental humanity and our earth. Economic systems in place today look to benefit from spiritual self-neglect. We are taught to buy our way in to happiness, fulfillment, acceptance and beauty. Marketers are only too willing to point out how they can do this for us… for a cost. Our society demands we live by and uphold inhumane standards of so-called progress and growth, completely malaligned to the natural rhythms and cycles of nature, humanity and God.

I hate to use the word sin. I’m simply not that used to saying it. But perhaps when we say Jesus saves us from the sins of the world, maybe this is what we mean. By following Jesus’ way—of forgiveness, justice and love—perhaps truly following this way, living these principles, we actively “save ourselves”, that is remove ourselves, from the exploitative, unsustainable, deteriorating effects of today’s unchecked capitalism and social pressures. Marketing false “gods” of stuff, for profit at any cost.

It’s not new is it? Somehow, somewhere, societies malfunction. Power, greed and competition bring short-lived profit to a small few, at the expense of many others. And, what that small few obtains, that glittering fools gold, becomes so alluring that we chase it too. And get trapped in cycles of silencing, neglect, ignoring, forgetting and pushing aside other people and God’s way, in the name of having more stuff, power, influence or access.

I’ve known people who live what is called off-the-grid. People who question, assess and refuse to live by harmful societal norms. Punks. Activists. Dumpster divers. Commune-livers. Dreamers. Queers. Freaks. And, Christians? Hmm…

I wonder why Christians aren’t at the forefront of creating alternative social movements and radical subcultures. Why aren’t we known as the challengers of society, pushing back, question it all, while figuring out sustainable, off-the-grid lifestyles that truly benefit the common good. Even the simple choice of rejecting styrofoam cups has yet to be adopted in some congregations. In many ways we are lagging way behind, even the corporate big-guys in environmentalism, social awareness and best practices. Why on earth is this?

Imagine what your life would look like if you actively rejected everything you know to be harmful, unsustainable, unkind or unjust. Whose life would yours resemble? How could you live in a truly ethical and kind manner? Where would you live? How would you gather with others? How would you clothe yourself, eat, drink and find shelter? If living in God’s way could be visualized on a continuum, what would that closest point to God look like? As of today, where are you upon that sliding scale? Where do you aspire to be… and how can you get there? How can we get there together?

So I ask, God, to please help us. Help us to externalize our struggles. Help us to seek community and face our strength in others. We know, as we seek we will find community who will love us, as we are, as ourselves. In our communities of faith, we can find the face of God smiling at us, as human beings, just right, just as we are.

I have lived the experience of self-acceptance. And although that is another conversation for another time, the experience of finding and accepting God’s unconditional love for me has been life-altering. It has empowered me to do what I am doing now, which is called bearing witness. I’m certainly not perfect, and that’s okay. But I can bear witness to the journey, and take part in sharing our journey as a community of faith, with you today. Will you share your journey with me too?

Love your neighbor as yourself. Yes. And love yourselves as yourselves. You know what? That sounds pretty good too.

Amen.

Thank you for reading, aaron m.

#reflections