My prop today is my blackberry, a device that can be used as a phone, an e-mail and text messaging tool and even a GPS device. It is a great tool and saved me many hours of time. But every now and then it freezes or emits a low volume, irritating, high pitched hum. At first when these things happened I got frustrated; then I learned that in order to get the blackberry to reset itself, it needed to start over. Now to do that I had only to remove the back plate, disengage the battery, wait a few moments; and then, re-insert the battery and the back plate and then start it up. It's like new once again. My son many years ago taught me that many computer problems can be fixed that way as well. Tum the computer off and then start it up, and, bingo, it is ready to serve its master again. Now wouldn't it be nice if we could do turn ourselves off and back on when our lives seem to freeze up or go out of control or even come crashing down around us? Wouldn't it be nice if we could stop and start up allover again, all new, refreshed and ready to go? Wouldn't it be nice if e could shut off and defang all the hurtful people, gossiping co-workers, frustrating half-friends who pretend to be our friends as they work to do us wrong, the back stabbers, the ungrateful and the insensitive? Well, believe it or not, we can! We can do it by exercising the power of love. Now it is important to understand that when Saint John says, "beloved," "let us love," and the word love itself, he is using a very special word. Saint John could have used Eros, the Greek word for sensual love, or any strong love, even ambition or patriotism. But this kind of love is physical in origin and can be too easily dominated by the love of self. Or Saint John could have used the Greek word Storge, a better word, which means love in the sense of affection, as in family love or the love children and parents have for each other. But this love too often can be selfish as when love of family becomes more important than love of one's neighbor. On the other hand, Saint John could have used the Greek word philia or brotherly love, which is even better because it looks beyond primal urges or family or ethnic loyalties. But even friendship can be betrayed; romance can cool and tum into hate. So Saint John uses a fourth Greek word, agape, which, roughly translated, means opposite of hate; the love of God, the kind of love rooted in the mind and will; a kind of love that means loving our enemies and strangers as we would want to be loved. Agape is sometimes rendered into English by the word Latin root word Charity, which describes God's historical relationship with humanity, the teachings of the Gospels and the New Testament and the work of the Holy Ghost. I have a dear, dear friend who helped me to understand on a personal level what these words mean. She is fifteen years younger than I; she was my student when I first began teaching; and she has been my colleague as a fellow teacher for over fifteen years. About five years ago she was in charge of a wonderful program that helped mid level students from falling through the cracks and to succeed academically. The details are unimportant but she offended a powerful member of the establishment and was stripped of her leadership position. She was still a teacher, and a good one; but a wounded and unappreciated one. Many a morning she would share with me the hurt of betrayal, the humiliating sting of being asked to help a successor who was inexperienced and the agony of a heart wondering if justice from heaven was fact or fiction. Many a morning she poured out her anguish and feelings of resentment; her desire to run away from it and her temptation to seek revenge. And then she told me what her mother told her and that was to keep to the moral high ground; to forgive; to forget; and not to be like those who had hurt her. Her mother said that everything would come full circle and that reminded me of Bishop Morse's axiom that the judgments of time are always moral. Slowly I watched my friend heal. She put her trust in God that all would tum out as it should. She taught even better than before the betrayal. She became one of the most modeled and admired teachers in the school. Then, just a few weeks ago, she told me of her what she called her "God moment." The person in the educational hierarchy who had hurt her asked for her forgiveness and apologized for letting ego get in the way of common sense and fair play. My friend realized that God had taken away the venom from her heart and that she could forgive; she did forgive. She realized that she had to endure the hard knocks and humiliation in order to learn how to love and forgive; to exercise charity. And this last Thursday she was - in an auditorium packed with students and parents - presented with an award acknowledging her contributions to the school and its most important product, its students. Her mother was right: all had come full circle. Bishop Morse was right, the judgments of time are moral and all that happens to us is grace. My dear friends, the transformation I saw take place in my friend could only come about when my friend chose agape, the love that shuts out hate. Eros the biological love would have failed; Storge the familial love would have failed; even philia the brotherly love would have failed. St. John tells us that the essence of God is agape - God is love - and that those who live in that love that opposes hate, live in God. This is how we become perfect. This is how we tum ourselves off and back on when our lives seem to freeze up or go out of control or even come crashing down around us. This is how we defang all the hurtful people, gossiping co-workers, frustrating half-friends who pretend to be our friends as they work to do us wrong, the back stabbers, the ungrateful and the insensitive. This is how we turn off the resentful, the painful and the bitter and turn on the peaceful, the moral and the charitable. |
|
|
|
|
|
top