I hold this delicate life.
I fear it will shatter
if held too tight, or loose.
It lies in my hand;
I dare not breathe,
lest the least movement
would destroy
what I behold.
Do you bear me with such tenderness?
For I am what it is I fear;
I am the Brittle so easily broken.
Can I love you,
before I learn to love me?
Today’s reading was Luke 10.25-28. Forgive me for not focusing on that aspects of the response of Jesus that invokes the Shema. Instead, I wanted to draw on the second commandment: love your neighbour as yourself. Too many dodgy sermons have told me to love God first, neighbour second and me last.
Jesus calls on me to love God, but then defines my love of another in reference to my love of myself.
To love me isn’t selfish; how I learn to love myself informs my love for others as it is born from God’s self-loving. God Loves, within the Father, the Son and the Spirit, so I am called to learn to love myself and others. The church needs less false sacrifice, real or imposed, and a greater celebration of what it means to love, and be loved.
The Sinner's Friend 