Polarized

I wonder how Jesus would feel about the way we treat each other today.

'Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel! - Matthew 23:23-24

He knew he would have an impact on our thinking.  He told his disciples we would wind up fighting each other, and that after he was gone, others would rise up saying they know what he meant.

And in today's reading, he is criticizing the leaders of the faith in his day of focusing on the wrong things.

Are we finally getting it right, or are we still missing the point?

We all like to think we have it figured out, that we know what he meant and we have it right.

But do we?

When it comes to the big issues, the political positions and platforms, we will probably always find ourselves polarized in opposition to one another.  It is hard to get to anything common when we see the other side as wrong.

So, why go there?  Why bother to try to change minds on a global scale?

If there is one thing I can learn from Jesus is that he worked and taught on a much smaller scale.  And yet his examples have global implications.

So, maybe that is how we will find the truth, one-on-one.

If we get out and help one another out of love, perhaps we will see the bigger picture more clearly.  Perhaps we might even change our minds a bit.

But if we try to convince others this is the right path or that, we will fail.

Love is personal.

It requires contact.

One cannot love a neighbor from afar.  It has to be up close, or it isn't real.

So, let's go spread some love.

And leave the big issues and platforms for another day.

More to come...