Eric's Sunday Sermon; The Resilience of Love

nce of Love

This sermon actually came about as I was double checking and making sure I was ready for our 14^th wedding anniversary. It just plain came over me how much crap my bride has had to put up with over that past period of time. She really really must love me. And we can suppose that this notion of loving even though times get tough is not unusual. It would just have to seem to one who pays attention to the resilient nature of love that it is nothing short of miraculous.

One million people show up at the border’s edge of war torn hell. Argue all you want to about pros and cons but in fact there is room made for these people and they are seriously helped. Did you know it is in the billions of dollars per week that gets donated to help other creatures great and small? You cannot even count the hours per week that are spent volunteering to help others.

Somehow if you pay any attention to “news” you would think that billions a week and trillions of man hours are spent hurting and harming others. It simply is extremely lopsided on the positive side, not even enough to make scales work. I read someplace and it is no doubt exaggerated, that for every person in prison there is one person doing something to help the prisoners. Even exaggerated it is an impressive concept.

In this country like all countries we have children without a real home environment. Maybe almost 150 thousand get adopted each year. Hard to say for sure because there really is not a central data base for the nation. And many are foreign adoptions. We like to say “there is no greater love than to give one’s life for another”. Well that could not be more true by death as it is for an adoption. This nearly holy intercession in one life based on love and a desire to parent is amazing. I reckon in this area the need is so great that the only time we hear of it is when someone is decrying just how bad our parentless child situation is. Point at problems to get attention and money. In our home we donate to successful groups not ones touting their failure.

I suppose that goes for our life in fact. Victim or victor is generally a choice of our own free will. But the point here is that a vast majority of us help others out of love of their fellow and life.

There are serious problems out there in our big old world. Do we really just “give at the office” and forget about it? Do we only give out of our abundance? I do not think so. Sure as hell there are millions of Americans that make no attempt at all to help their fellow human. I think it fair to say most notably in that group are those who through generations have come to expect help with an understanding that they do not have enough to help others. Do not think we are targeting welfare type people because this also holds true for those like the inheritance group, graduates with fancy degrees and those who think they got the raw end of some social injustice. “Since I have not received that to which I am entitled I surely cannot help another out of my misery.” Choices I suppose.

In my area we have an interesting issue. Military. Our entry level salaries do not support and family of 3. They just do not. Now that is some seriously messed up stuff. Join the military and not have enough to have one child. And in our area there as some serious private groups that help these families. And here is the cool part that gets me a little teary eyed in pride. The first folks to suit up and show to help others are these very families. Where does that remarkable part of life come from? Is it short of miraculous? I was doing my time at a food bank signing up homeless. Here in San Diego County we have one of the finest food banks in the entire world. I was coming to realize that much of the food went to military families. And yet standing next to me were two Private (E-1) Marines. They earn far less than the poverty line. And in their poverty they gave much. This is the picture that we should see in the dictionary when we look up love of nation and others.

And others who helped were retirees driving ten year old cars. A couple of recovering addicts and a former homeless gal with two kids. This stuff is not made up it is in fact our common life. No heroes or all heroes, what difference does the title make.

And so here we are “embattled”, “sky is falling”, “he will lead us into the depths of despair”, “there is no hope for humanity and the planet”. The notion that they are opposed to my beliefs so I must act and speak in hate about them, is fantastical. Let us look at it this way; there are millions more Americans helping others that hurting others. Sure one says create jobs and the other says free education and the other says increase social spending and the other says do it this way. If we engage each other and find compromise then all of the above are accomplished to some degree. Progress is made and help finds its way to those who needs it.

I confess my wife and I are polar opposites in one area of giving. We do not address it. We do not argue over it. In our “less than” we can give her way and my way. She gives to the guy on the corner and churches. I give time to programs and one on one. We give together to our favorite, St. Jude’s.

So if we can do so. So also can our greater society and our leaders. We are so free to support what we see as good and righteous that we need spend no time arguing against what “they” see is good.

I did a strange thing. I actually spent a couple of hours going through reports of the last years civil disobedience and rioting. Now I am pretty neutral on these matters, I see the good and I see the bad. I am not predisposed to judging such things.

This was clear. Billions were spent on attacking something. Whatever the perceived injustice, literally billions were spent last year on negative “violent” protests. And more was spent on just plain “we don’t want”. One could argue that negative or against is just for something else but I do not get that vibe. Most of this stuff was just us against them.

If this nations negative pushes were flipsided into positive campaigns without the gross fanfare of our mass media we could have worked miracles.

I support our rights to free speech. But I contend that speech made in fear and hate is not free, it is compulsive. There seems to be no free choice in the horrible displays on social media. These expressions are not of people free to choose to act and speak in love. Somehow they are like the addict unable to choose anymore.

But this is really good for the person trying to grow in love. To see this state of affairs and to repeatedly respond in love that is the exercise of freedom. We are free to love. Using our God we can have the strength to overcome this nasty addiction to speak in ugliness. Did you know the statistic that not one nasty thing said about another ever cured and evil?

Let us wrap this baby up with a great prayer I just think is awesome. God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. Courage to change the things I can. And the wisdom to know the difference. Now go change yourself! I promise you that no matter how much you have been afraid and angry love is still there waiting for you – it is resilient.