Love Relates Us
Sue Sloan, World Church Secretary
A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.” And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” -Mark 3:32-35
When I was 8 years old and preparing for baptism and confirmation in Community of Christ, I was excited because then other church members would call me “sister.” Years ago, it was common to hear members refer to one another as brother and sister. I wanted to be part of the family, to be a sister. And it did happen. Following my baptism and confirmation, standing in the church foyer, several people shook my hand and called me sister. I felt the warmth of belonging.
It no longer is common to hear church members greet one another as sister or brother. Today we recognize that all who follow Christ are brothers and sisters, whether a member of Community of Christ or another denomination. Community of Christ is one pathway to follow Christ in mission, pursuing justice and peace. There are many good pathways and good people.
The following Hasidic tale, as told by Henri Nouwen in Finding My Way Home, expresses the need for all people to feel they are seen and belong to the community.
The rabbi asked his students: “How can we determine the hour of dawn, when the night ends and the day begins?”
One of the rabbi’s students suggested: “When from a distance you can distinguish between a dog and a sheep?
“No,” was the answer of the rabbi.
“Is it when one can distinguish between a fig tree and a grapevine?” asked a second student.
“No,” the rabbi said.
“Please tell us the answer then,” said the students.
“It is, then,” said the wise teacher, “when you can look into the face of another human being and you have enough light in you to recognize your brother or your sister. Until then it is night, and darkness is still with us.”
May love open our eyes and hearts so we see all people as our sisters and brothers, members of the human family.
Prayer Phrase
“Led by the Holy Spirit, we work with God and others to restore peace (shalom) to creation” (https://www.cofchrist.org/enduring-principles).
Spiritual Practice
Embodying God’s Shalom
Find a way to express and embody God’s shalom. Begin by prayerfully listening to your longing for peace and wholeness. Become silent and imagine you can hear the groaning of the Earth’s people, nations, and creatures. Prayerfully open yourself to God’s yearning for peace and the divine vision of shalom.
What images, feelings, and words come to you? What prayer for peace comes to you from your time of listening? Speak or write this prayer. What act of justice, kindness, healing, or peacemaking does God invite you to consider this day?
Today’s Prayer for Peace
Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.
