. . . and the greatest of these is love
Saul, a faithful, well educated Jew was carrying out what he thought was important work for his religious tradition by persecuting Jesus followers, those new so-called “Christ”ians. One day, out of the blue, Saul experienced a vision of Jesus so powerful that he committed the rest of his life to following Jesus, a man he had never actually met except in a vision. Saul changed his name to Paul, traveled from town to town talking about Jesus, and wrote letters to new Christian communities encouraging them in their faith. Paul’s letters, found in our New Testament have had a huge influence on the development of our Christian theology.
Paul, like Jesus, knew all the laws and writings of the Jewish faith and yet both Paul and Jesus was able to sum up the essence of that faith. Jesus’ summary was “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Paul’s summary was “I could be brilliant, accomplished, prophetic, successful, knowledgeable, but if I don’t have love, I’m just a loud noise.” (Check out 1 Corinthians 13 if you don’t believe me!)
Empathy toward others, as an expression of love, is the greatest above all gifts, is the essence of our faith tradition, belief system, religious structures, and worship practices. This essential core notion is not a pie-in-the-sky ideal; it is the way we are called to live and behave. If we do not have love expressed in everything we say and do with one another in this congregation, then we are just a bunch of noise-makers.
Let’s continue to reflect on the essence of our faith as we consider ways to “cultivate compassion” in our lives and in our congregation.
Shalom,
Abigail
Have you added your commitment to Charter for Compassion? Check out:
http://www.canadians4compassion.org/
COOKING WITH SOUL
Join us tomorrow, Saturday, April 2nd, at 9am-noon for Chocolate and Tea with Pastry Chef, Baker and Professor at George Brown, Laura Bryan.
She’s also a tea sommelier and will share her secrets about tea!
We’re going to make vegetable and barley soup, scones and chocolate mousse and meringues and wash it down with a delightful cup of tea. We’ll be sharing our cooking with the Interfaith lunch program guests on Tuesday.
Please let Mary Anne know if you’d like to come: Maryanne.alton@sympatico.ca or 416-469-5877.
Click on HEARTBEAT to read about what's happening this week at Beach United Church and around the community.