MEDITATION:
Written by Dallas Willard (1935-2013), an American philosopher known for his writings on Christian spiritual formation. This is an excerpt from his book “Renewing the Christian Mind: Essays, Interviews, and Talks.”
That’s the secret of Jesus. You watch Jesus, and you see he never did “withdraw” and then “attack.” All of the time people wanted him to do it and in many ways, but he would not. Then to the body of believers he said, “This will show everyone that you are my disciples, if you love one another,” but he had already said, “Love one another as I have loved you.” So that’s the model. In that sense the transformation of the social world is at its heart the transformation of personal relations. That’s the key to transforming society in the larger arena. There is no cure for the social battles that we fight in our culture—and there’s so much grief around race, gender, and so forth—until you eliminate “withdrawal” and “attack” and replace them with “acceptance” and “help.” Once you do that and not just talk about it, these other issues will fall into place quickly. They will not fall into place at all unless it is done this way.
PRAYER:
From the PC-USA Book of Common Worship.
Holy God, source of all love, on the night of his betrayal Jesus gave his disciples a new commandment, To love one another as he loved them.
Write this commandment in our hearts;
give us the will to serve others as he was the servant of all, who gave his life and died for us, yet is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
