mind

In his keynote presentation Saturday to the convention of the diocese of western Washington, indigenous ministries leader Bradley Hauff said some things about love. The Jesus Movement of which we Anglicans & Episcopalians are an integral part emphasizes 

    loving

    liberating

    life-giving

of our fellowship in Christ on our way to becoming the Beloved Community that Martin Luther King Jr described as a diverse community embodying "a global vision in which all people can share in the wealth of the earth."

and Bradley Hauff - an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux - reminded us, that all things are our relatives - not just people, all creation. 

And that means that the double commandment Jesus proclaims in the gospels - love God and your neighbor - extends beyond traditional limited understanding of neighbor as fellow Israelite or even sojourner in the land, to other nations, other creatures, and indeed to all of creation. 

"Brother Sun, Sister Moon" is no longer merely a metaphor or a nice song. It is for real: we are all related - in God's love. And as God is love that love is all encompassing, all embracing. While we experience separation from others and from God, and a need for redemption and reconciliation, we believers know that 'there is no better redeemer than Christ'. 

We are all relatives, thanks to Jesus, and we are striding toward right relationship with God, humanity, and all creation.

 

Jesus responds to his interrogator by quoting Scripture, from Deuteronomy and Leviticus, for the first and second commandments he articulates. And when he says heart and soul and mind - and strength - he draws on all aspects of human nature. Heart: the more responsive and emotion reactions of a human being; Soul: the vitality and consciousness of a person; Might: the powerful and instinctive drive in our nature; and Mind: the intelligent and planning qualities of a person.

When we hear that we are to love God with all of our selves, we are called into a transformation, a conversion, a taking of responsibility for the growth and development of all aspects of ourselves, as persons, in heart, soul, mind, and strength, and as the people of God's love.

 

Let us not then as we go forth into the new world of love's redeeming work that it is the love of God, source of all being, eternal Word, and holy Spirit, into which we are called to live; and on that love we draw in our embodied faithfulness, our love in action, toward friend and stranger, and all of creation.