sometimes i flip through books that i have already read to re-read the pages i have underlined, dogeared, or otherwise mutilated.
today soren was a favorite:
"To love one's neighbor, therefore, means essentially to will to exist equally for every human being without exception. If then you meet the king, gladly and respectfully give him his due. You should see in him his inner glory, the equality of glory, the neighbor that his human magnificence only conceals. If you meet a beggar - perhaps suffering in sorrow over him more than he himself -you should nevertheless also see in him his inner glory, the equality of glory, the neighbor which his wretched outer garments conceal. Yes then, you shall see, wherever you turn your eye, your neighbor. In being king, beggar, scholar, rich man, poor man, friend, enemy, we do not resemble each other - in these ways we are all different. But in being a neighbor we are all unconditionally alike..."
"[and on how to love your neighbors]...to help another human being to love God is to love another person. "
2 comments:
Hmmmm, thoughts like this crossed my mind while stopped at a light and watching a man with a sign saying "out of work, need to feed kids". The iner heart string is pulled, the outer shell says "you don't know that he is out of work and has kids, he might just be lazy and begging". How to reconcile the two - that is where the gift of the Spirit comes in.
it doesn't matter what his reason is...you help him anyways. Jesus knew people's motives yet still chose to love them despite the condition of their hearts.
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