Out of all the things we learn by heart as we make our way through life, there is nothing more grounding, more sensible, more liberation and more heartfelt than Jesus’ succinct summary of the commandments – loving neighbors as ourselves. When we all give love, love returns to us thousandfold. We can rest, guarded and kept safe by that same love. We draw up on love to power our thoughts, words and actions. Love fulfills ten commandments, and 613, and a million.
Theologian Frederick Buechner writes, “To lend each other a hand when we’re falling, perhaps that’s the only work that matters in the end.” Buechner’s words are just another way to think about the Greatest Commandment. We all need a hand sometimes to make it through our inevitable troubles, sorrow and pain. God’s love for us, which we extend to one another, is a steadying, reassuring hand that reaches out to everyone.
This message is excerpted from “A hand when we’re falling” by Elise Seyfried in the January/February 2023 Gather magazine.
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