It is a remarkable thing that where we are in the Sermon on the Mount aligns with the current social and political climate. Of course the time is always right to learn how to love harder, better, but these last couple of weeks in particular there is a strong sense of “us” and “them.” To love our enemies is the same kind of mandate as “love your neighbor as yourself.” Who do we perceive to be our enemies and who are our neighbors? In the example of the rioters who stormed the capital last week - among them teachers, doctors, elected officials, police officers - they very well could have been our neighbors, too.
In this podcast we explore several themes:
1) Fierce love doesn’t have to mean approval nor does it lack accountability; 2) how might we imagine being loved by our ‘enemy’; and 3) understanding the context in which Jesus spoke of "turning the other cheek.”
This week’s lesson presents a timely challenge, and essentially asks us to sit with the possibility that we can learn to love each other a little more whole. If we examine our shadow, sit with it, and even learn to love it, we can actually do the work of growing up, and our world desperately needs more grown-up grown ups.
Thanks for joining us.
