These words of Jesus, taken from the tradition in the Hebrew Scriptures, are called his Great Commandment:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength and ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Mark 12:29-31)
Jesus commands us to love God; and to love each other. The message we can take, for our daily living, is that we are all neighbors, called to care for one another. And in that care and love, there is healing. Healing for the loved; and healing for the lovers. And we are both.

It’s been a hard week. A week when we may find it difficult to keep things in perspective. A lot of anger, disappointment, anxiety, and fear; for some, perhaps, relief. There definitely is, in the brokenness that has been made apparent, a need for healing, and for prayer.
But as the repercussions of the elections remain to be seen, I think we are faced with this question: How do we keep on caring for each other, in love? How do we hold on to hope? How do we live out Jesus’ call to love God and our neighbor?
Remember, we were never promised that our lives would be easy. But we HAVE received the promise that God would walk with us; would hold us close; would never leave us. AND – as the Body of Christ, we know we have each other. We can still say to each other, God loves YOU, just as you are; and I will stand by you and will support you and will love you – knowing that God loves you and God loves me. As the children of God, let’s commit to hold steady to that call – to love God and to care for each other.
This may help: this famous prayer, attributed to St. Francis of Assisi:
Lord, make us instruments of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon;
where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
I am here to proclaim this to you: God is here, with you and me, here today and always. God loves you, and God’s healing Spirit is present with us now, healing us, and helping us to love one another. For that we are grateful. Thanks be to God! Amen.
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