Word to the Wise
Friday, May 15, 2009 - Friday in the Fifth Week of Easter
[Acts 15:22-31 and John 15:12-17]This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.
These words were spoken by Jesus at the Last Supper. They are not nice thoughts about "love" that appear on Valentines, etc. He is about to demonstrate to the disciples just what he means by love. He has already washed their feet and given them an example of loving service. But soon he would go further and lay down his life for his friends. In fact, he explicitly asks in the Garden of Gethsemani that his disciples be spared. (Of course, they were already running away!) In his well-known book, THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED, the psychologist, Scott Peck, speaks of the difference between love and "cathexis." The latter is the powerful attraction that can arise between two people for any number of reasons that might lead them to conclude that they are meant to be together. This is not love. St. Paul points out that it is difficult to die for someone else, although for someone truly worthy we might be prepared to die. But Christ made no such conditions and died for us all! We will often read of brave individuals who risk their lives to save the life of another person. This is heroism and not necessarily love, at least not in the sense that a parent would respond to a threatened offspring (not matter how difficult that child might have been)! This gives us some outline of the depth of love that Jesus is commanding and considers the standard for friendship with him! Gulp! Yes, we are limited human beings and may have difficulty living up to this standard. But we must remember this: the standard is not negotiable, nor is it beyond human capacity! AMEN
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