A Sunday reflection

“Get along,” “I decided to love everybody,” and St. John 13:34.

My posts don’t really hide my political views.  Some like this, some most likely do not.  Readers should know that I never intend to offend anyone personally, and I apologize sincerely if I have. 

My political views and religious affiliations are a paradox to many, even to myself at times.  My views on the economy, the welfare state, and questions of civil rights can easily be called liberal or even socialist, in both the most pure and also derisive applications of those terms.  Yet, I also belong to a branch of Christianity that has many beliefs that could both honestly and derisively be called conservative.  Is this a conflict?  No, not really.  I am affiliated with a social democratic political party simply because I feel it is the only such organization with a genuine interest in addressing the serious issues of economic inequality, poverty, and equal application of the rule of law.  I am not at all sacrificing my deeply held religious beliefs in doing so.  I do not aspire to higher elected office; I just want to do what I can to make those in power realize that we need fairer economic policies and programs that will help those who need it the most.  A few years ago, I stopped following the socially-constructed convention of our time that has both religion and politics on the same spectrum.  I get really upset when I hear of a church being referred to as liberal or conservative, left-wing or right-wing.  God is none of those things.  The Bible is the Bible.  Some of God’s followers simply have different interpretations of what it says or different levels of adherence to what it says.  I worship where I worship because I happen to believe that this particular place does a good job at staying faithful to the word of God.  I do not believe faith is constructed by people, but how it is practiced is.

I really just wish that people of all religions and political affiliations could just get along.  “Get along” is nearly a trademarked phrase in my family.  Growing up, I continually heard my father say “now get along” whenever my sister and I had a disagreement.  In January of this year my grandmother died.  Her final words to her five children (my father being the oldest of them) included her prayer that they would all “get along.”  My father, his three sisters, and one brother are all very different people in many ways, but they all agree it is possible to respect and value people with different views or lifestyles.  It is important for everyone to recognize and respect the fact that not everyone believes the same thing or lives the same lifestyle.  One does not have to be in complete agreement or endorse beliefs and behaviours they disagree with in order to be respectful.  I have friends, relatives, and colleagues of all faiths, groups within faiths, no faith, and lifestyle.  I don’t agree with everything they do in life, what they believe in, or what they don’t believe in.  However, there are far more things about them individually and collectively that I appreciate tremendously.  The same applies to politics.  This may seem surprising, but I actually have friends and colleagues who are Conservatives and really like Stephen Harper.  Their political activity is such a small part of them as individuals though.  All of them have been wonderfully faithful friends and supportive colleagues.  None of them demand complete conformity to their views, and I certainly don’t expect it from them.  The world would be an incredibly boring place if everyone had the exact same beliefs about everything.  The instruction is simple; get along.

That plain two-word instruction that I have heard throughout my life has deeper roots.  About a year ago, I was visiting with a friend one day.  This individual is a particularly thoughtful person.  I always feel encouraged and positive after a conversation with him.  He was discussing past issues in his own life and said “I decided to love everybody.”  I have never forgotten the look on his face as he said that and the conviction he said it with.  Again, it is a simple instruction.  For Christians, the instruction comes simply again, as said by Jesus in the gospel according to St. John, Chapter 13, verse 34.  “A new commandment I give to you that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another.”  This is basically Jesus saying “get along” or “I decided to love everybody.”  We cannot afford to be divisive in our society or among ourselves as Christians, whatever other faith we practice, do not practice, or whatever, if any political activity we engage in.  Getting along and loving everybody is what brings real results.