Our starting point is important.
Christian theology and most of the other enduring religions have a starting point: an underlying vision of a deep, essential unity binding all of creation together within an ultimate reality we call God, by many names. Unity is our starting point. Unity in diversity. Interrelationship.
Christians see this unity in diversity within a Trinitarian understanding of ultimate reality. In the beginning, God pours divine life into creation: "Let there be light." (Genesis 1:3) The Christian writer John says, "What has come into being in (God's Word) was life, and the life was the light of all people." All people. (John 1:1-3)
Mystics of every religion witness to this unity. Scientists now tell a similar story. Physicists, biologists and ecologists speak of the interconnectedness of creation and of all life.
Life and light is God's gift to all of us, the intrinsic wholeness and interconnection of all creation. We are one race, the human race, all inclusive. We breathe the same air and share this one planet Earth. That's our starting point.
That starting point seems very important, because the greatest threat to human peace and survival is our divisions. Too many political systems and religious systems start not in fundamental unity, but in division -- us vs. them; true vs. false; right vs. wrong; or red vs. blue.
Only when we "other" someone, can we do them violence. When we recognize the "other" as "neighbor" and love our neighbor as our self, we fulfill the fundamental law of the universe.
Most political language is war language. One side speaks the language of tribal wars, building walls to protect "us" from "them." The other side speaks the language of culture wars, attacking in the name of social justice those who do not yet understand that their behavior damages their neighbor.
Healthy growth can only come when we include and transcend. We can be patriots, loyal to the country we love while embracing our greater primary identity as human beings, loving all peoples and nations. I can be a faithful, married heterosexual while rejoicing in the loving relationships of my LGBT+ neighbors.
Jesus used the metaphor of the reign of God to speak of the deeper unifying reality. He reached across cultural and religious divisions, recognizing the divine presence in everyone, including foreigners and the outcast. God's reign is a world made whole, where no one is despised, the smallest are greatest and enemies are loved.
Jesus taught us to love our enemies because God loves our enemies. God's sun rises "on the evil and on the good."(Matthew 5:45) God is "kind to the ungrateful and the wicked."(Luke 6:35) God's love is universal and unbounded. God loves my wicked, ungrateful neighbor as fully as God loves me. Can I grow enough to love my neighbor as myself?
I'm working on it. And Donald Trump seems to be a gift along that journey. For me, Donald Trump is a hard person to love.
I need a process to grow in love. I need better understanding. I find, if I can move first toward empathy, it's a smaller step toward forgiveness and love.
I understand that Donald Trump grew up in what I would have experienced as an abusive environment. According to his biographer, young Donald's fiercely ambitious workaholic father pushed his son to prevail in every area, to be a "killer" and a "king." He taught Donald that "life is mainly combat; the law of the jungle rules; pretty much all that matters is winning or losing and rules are made to be broken." That's a terrible place to start.
I can bring empathy, calm peace and understanding to such a toxic, arrested worldview. Lacking that, I will only react in anger and enlarge the vicious cycle.
So I try to listen to my brother Donald and recognize he is doing what he thinks is right. I can work to help heal the damage of my brother Donald, starting with accepting our unity. I can try to understand and to love him. I can encourage him to love himself and others. I can support those who try to heal the damage.
It's simple, but it's not easy. Love your neighbor as yourself.
Commentary on 03/05/2019