The Golden Rule!!!!

I'm not very consistent at blogging.... I don't really know if anyone wants to know what I think, but here are meanderings on the Monday morning....There are times when I hear or read something that really grabs my attention, these questions did just that;"How do we care for one another and not just ourselves, our tribe, our party, or for those in our little bubble? How do we work together even with people we don’t agree with?"I have mulled these questions over and over in my heart for several weeks. Jesus commanded us to love our neighbors as ourselves. Many Christians are still trying to define who Christ meant by “neighbor.” I am convinced that the story of the “Good Samaritan” still offers us the best answer to that question.“This is the rule of most perfect Christianity, its most exact definition, its highest point, namely, the seeking of the common good . . . for nothing can so make a person an imitator of Christ as caring for his neighbors.” —John Chrysostom (ca. 347– 407)If we are honest our generation is a self-centered generation. We should be crying out for a true change -- a conversion that calls us to move from looking out just for ourselves to also looking out for “one another.”Christianity is so much more than getting to go to heaven when you die. Christianity is a call to a relationship that changes all our other relationships. Jesus told us a new relationship with God also brings us into a new relationship with our neighbor, and then He speaks to us about the “Good Samaritan.”This call to love our neighbor, should become a vision for those of us seeking to follow Christ in the twenty-first century. The cry of “Chrysostom” must be sounded again. The cry for the common good, has fallen into cultural and political— and even religious— neglect.Even as I make reference to Pope Francis I run the risk of being marginalized simply by quoting him, but here it goes!“Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Luke 6: 31).Oh! Wait a minute... Jesus said that!The Golden Rule.... we quote it to Kindergartener's, but we ignore it in our grownup realities. Listen, the way we live in this world matters. The way we treat each other matters. The way we love one another matters. There has been and always will be differences between us, but we are still called to “love one another as Christ has loved us.”“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘ Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matt. 22: 36– 40 NIV)The kingdom of God says that our neighbor’s concerns, rights, interests, freedoms, and well-being are as important as our own. I wonder what would really take place in our neighborhoods if we began to live the “Golden Rule?” In our churches? In our communities? In our nations? We are connected to one another, responsible for one another, and are not fully human apart from one another.We are one another’s neighbors! I hurt when one of my neighbors hurts! I rejoice with my neighbor when they rejoice! I cry when I see people without food, water or shelter! I weep when college students are killed! I grieve when a parishioner dies! I dance when one is baptized!I am so aware that when I speak or write people are trying to understand if I’m on this side or that; left or right; protestant or catholic. The truth is that I don’t want to go left or right, protestant or catholic.... I simply want to go deeper into Christ!I wrote this today, not because I have answers to the world’s problems, but because I’m a follower of Christ who believes that “nothing can so make a person an imitator of Christ as caring for his neighbors.”Maybe, if we would work together, for each other, we could find some common ground that would benefit us all!