May 7
Beloved of Good Shepherd Parish,
Grace to you and peace in Jesus Christ our Lord!
The place the world is perhaps the most out of step with Jesus is our long history of violence. There is a wonderful and instructive line in the New Testament book, First Peter, that describes the way Jesus lives and loves. It goes like this, “When Jesus was abused, he did not return abuse. When Jesus suffered, he did not threaten those who caused his suffering. Instead he entrusted himself to God.”
There is no doubt that Jesus was unjustly arrested, abused, and killed, and yet, he did not lash out in word or deed. Jesus simply does not go down the paths of violence, war, or revenge. From Jesus there is no posturing to exert strength, there is only sacrificial love used to effect peace. Howard Thurman, a devout follower of Jesus, taught that the only thing we should attack in our enemy is their status as our enemy.
My sense is that big acts of violence (war) come from small acts of violence (anger toward one’s neighbor) that recur over and over again and take folks past a boiling point. Across the ages, contemplative Christians have warned us that if we don’t process our hurt and our anger we will project it onto each other. One teacher says, That which you do not transform you will transmit. I have long sensed that all violence comes from unprocessed anger, and anger comes from unprocessed fear, and all fear is rooted in an unprocessed sense of powerlessness. If we don’t want to transmit our pain onto others, then we simply must entrust it and ourselves to God.
A spiritual practice of turning oneself over to God on a daily basis will heal that which is so hurtful. Do you want to learn more about a spiritual practice of surrender to God? Check out our Contemplation page on the website and pick an offering to try out. Just try it. If you don’t like it or it doesn’t help, you can try something else.
Good Shepherd is a school of love. Together we can learn to love like Jesus loves, and thus help the world heal from its violent ways.
Remember this always - God loves you, and I love you too!
Love is all,
Hendree+