Note: On Tuesdays and some Sundays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.
I once saw a video in which the speaker asked who attendees thought was the best person of the twentieth century. Many said Teresa of Calcutta. Then he asked who the evilest person of the century was. Many said Hitler; a few said Stalin. Finally, he asked where the audience members would put themselves. The consensus was somewhere in between.
The speaker then threw down the challenge. God’s desire is that we all live lives of generosity and justice and sacrifice in the way of Teresa. Being better than Hitler or Stalin simply isn’t enough.
But it’s so hard. So very hard.
Most of us are not called to nurse and pray over the teeming mass of humanity in the slums of Calcutta. We’re called to love in a different way. We’re called to love that pastor who feels the need to instruct us on the proper way to receive communion. We’re called to love that person who doesn’t wait for us to finish a thought because he or she knows, just knows, what we’re going to say and has already prepared a response. We’re called to love that texting teenager whose carelessness resulted in the death of our grandchild. We’re called to love (but not necessarily vote for) that politician whose views and ethics are so contrary to ours that we don’t think we could even stand to be in the same room with him or her.
We’re called to love.
Hitler and Stalin wouldn’t or couldn’t do it. But surely, with God’s help we can put aside our human notion that we will never achieve the Father’s perfection of love… and seek it anyway.
