A mansion on a hill is a lovely sight to see,
But like any other house, it’s only temporary.
Home is anywhere you choose to put your heart.
If there’s no love inside, it will soon fall apart.
Ashes to ashes, dust into dust.
Buildings will crumble, bridges will rust.
Mountains will disappear, rivers will dry up.
And so it goes, with everything but love.”
- "And So It Goes" by John Denver
I was introduced to this John Denver song, "And So It Goes," by a member of my church who suggested it for worship this past Sunday. It resonated with me on several levels, one of which was the rusting bridge reference that immediately reminded me of our own bridge woes right here in Gloucester. Indeed, everything is only temporary and all that is created by human hands will one day be nothing more than dust in the wind. Now it is not my intention to be maudlin. I want to offer us all a word of hope in the midst of a world and circumstances that often leave us feeling hopeless. The word that I give to you is love. For love is eternal and will never pass away because it is not a construct of humanity, but rather of the Divine.
Whatever name you assign to the creative force behind the fabrication of the universe, God, YHWH, Shekinah, Spirit, Allah, Mohammed, and more, that creating force is love. It is the only thing that crosses all boundaries, be they party lines, religious or denominational differences, cultural, gender, or racial identities, and even species in some cases. Because love is the one thing that binds us all, we have a responsibility as members of the human race to care for one another. We may not always agree and we may not even like some people but we must love. Always, and in all ways.
You see folks, I believe that life is hard enough without us causing one another harm. Every person that you see, friend or foe, acquaintance or stranger, is fighting a battle that you know nothing about. You know that grief that you’re experiencing over the loss of a loved one? That woman over there just lost her husband. That life-threatening disease that you’ve just been diagnosed with? That young man in line in front of you is losing his sight. That rude man that cut you off in the rotary while you were on your way to work? He was rushing to the hospital because his child was just taken there and his focus was elsewhere. Might he have just been a jerk? Sure. But if you assume good intentions, rather than just figuring the universe it out to get you, you might find yourself happier and with lower blood pressure.
Lest you think I am living in a fantasy land, I assure you that I am keenly aware that my words may sound slightly ridiculous and terribly naïve and simplistic. If that is what you think then I plead guilty as charged. I choose to believe that humanity, at its heart, is good because I believe that’s the way we are created. With all that we have going against us - economic uncertainty, lack of mental health resources, corporations that are out of touch with what we need to live, a dying planet, and on and on - then who is going to be for us if not each other? I am a Christian and when I have questions about my place and purpose in this life I turn to Jesus. Jesus kept it simple: love your neighbor as yourself. Is this easier said than done? You better believe it is! Is it imperative that we try? Not only is it imperative, it is a matter of life and death. One only needs to look at the suicide rate of bullied young people to see how our behavior can affect another person’s life.
Perhaps it is my own recent cancer diagnosis that has me thinking this way, or the unexpected death of my sister a few months ago, but life really is too short to waste time being mean, seeking revenge, being paranoid. I was reminded at my recent ordination that it’s not all about me. Sure, I have my pity party days when it feels like I’m the only person on the planet going through a difficult time. But all I need to do is open my front door and there is a whole world of hurting people out there. Each person has a spark of the Divine light inside them. You can choose to hide that light under a basket so that no one else receives its benefits. But you can also choose to let that light shine brightly into a dark corner of someone else’s world.
There is a story told of a very ugly man with a hideous face. He was good and kind, but people were terrified of him and would not stay in his presence. As you can imagine, he was very lonely. The thing he wanted most was to marry the mayor’s pretty daughter and to be loved by her. So he decided to wear a mask of a handsome face so that he could win her love. He kept this mask on 24/7. Soon he was married to the mayor’s daughter and living the happy life he had always wanted. After a number of years his wife began to notice that his handsome face was indeed a mask and asked him to show her his true face. And because he loved her, and could not bear to refuse her, he slowly took off the mask, bracing himself for the gasp of horror he knew would soon be coming. But instead of screaming, his wife just smiled. The man ran to a mirror and realized that the years of wearing the disguise had transformed his face into the handsome features of the mask.
We all have times in our lives when smiling or being kind seems like such an effort. But if we can put on the face of love when we are at our most unlovely, we will experience a transformation ourselves. And in the process, we will have transformed others in ways that we may never, ever know about. For me, that mask looks likes Christ. What does your mask look like?
Whatever name you assign to the creative force behind the fabrication of the universe, God, YHWH, Shekinah, Spirit, Allah, Mohammed, and more, that creating force is love. It is the only thing that crosses all boundaries, be they party lines, religious or denominational differences, cultural, gender, or racial identities, and even species in some cases. Because love is the one thing that binds us all, we have a responsibility as members of the human race to care for one another. We may not always agree and we may not even like some people but we must love. Always, and in all ways.
You see folks, I believe that life is hard enough without us causing one another harm. Every person that you see, friend or foe, acquaintance or stranger, is fighting a battle that you know nothing about. You know that grief that you’re experiencing over the loss of a loved one? That woman over there just lost her husband. That life-threatening disease that you’ve just been diagnosed with? That young man in line in front of you is losing his sight. That rude man that cut you off in the rotary while you were on your way to work? He was rushing to the hospital because his child was just taken there and his focus was elsewhere. Might he have just been a jerk? Sure. But if you assume good intentions, rather than just figuring the universe it out to get you, you might find yourself happier and with lower blood pressure.
Lest you think I am living in a fantasy land, I assure you that I am keenly aware that my words may sound slightly ridiculous and terribly naïve and simplistic. If that is what you think then I plead guilty as charged. I choose to believe that humanity, at its heart, is good because I believe that’s the way we are created. With all that we have going against us - economic uncertainty, lack of mental health resources, corporations that are out of touch with what we need to live, a dying planet, and on and on - then who is going to be for us if not each other? I am a Christian and when I have questions about my place and purpose in this life I turn to Jesus. Jesus kept it simple: love your neighbor as yourself. Is this easier said than done? You better believe it is! Is it imperative that we try? Not only is it imperative, it is a matter of life and death. One only needs to look at the suicide rate of bullied young people to see how our behavior can affect another person’s life.
Perhaps it is my own recent cancer diagnosis that has me thinking this way, or the unexpected death of my sister a few months ago, but life really is too short to waste time being mean, seeking revenge, being paranoid. I was reminded at my recent ordination that it’s not all about me. Sure, I have my pity party days when it feels like I’m the only person on the planet going through a difficult time. But all I need to do is open my front door and there is a whole world of hurting people out there. Each person has a spark of the Divine light inside them. You can choose to hide that light under a basket so that no one else receives its benefits. But you can also choose to let that light shine brightly into a dark corner of someone else’s world.
There is a story told of a very ugly man with a hideous face. He was good and kind, but people were terrified of him and would not stay in his presence. As you can imagine, he was very lonely. The thing he wanted most was to marry the mayor’s pretty daughter and to be loved by her. So he decided to wear a mask of a handsome face so that he could win her love. He kept this mask on 24/7. Soon he was married to the mayor’s daughter and living the happy life he had always wanted. After a number of years his wife began to notice that his handsome face was indeed a mask and asked him to show her his true face. And because he loved her, and could not bear to refuse her, he slowly took off the mask, bracing himself for the gasp of horror he knew would soon be coming. But instead of screaming, his wife just smiled. The man ran to a mirror and realized that the years of wearing the disguise had transformed his face into the handsome features of the mask.
We all have times in our lives when smiling or being kind seems like such an effort. But if we can put on the face of love when we are at our most unlovely, we will experience a transformation ourselves. And in the process, we will have transformed others in ways that we may never, ever know about. For me, that mask looks likes Christ. What does your mask look like?
Header art by T. Guzzio.
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Rev. Cindy Antonuk is the Pastor of the First Baptist Church in Gloucester. Follow her on Twitter @PastorCindyA.
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