We are One – Thomas Merton

Today as I continue to see more hate and fear spewed by so many my heart aches. June is PRIDE month and my LGBTQAI+ siblings continue to suffer abuse and worse at the hands of so many people, including the church. Two Sundays ago, in my final sermon at the church I was serving I talked about God’s creation and how God called it all very good. Imago Dei, Image of God… that is how we were created by God. That means EVERYONE. We have all been created by our loving creator in our creator’s image which is Love.

In his 1967 speech, “Where Do We Go from Here?” Dr Martin Luther King, Jr said “I have decided to stick to love…Hate is too great a burden to bear.” (Source: A Testament of Hope: Essential Writings and Speeches) Hate is indeed too great a burden to bear… Hate vilifies and divides… love unifies and strengthens. The church must answer the call to be messengers of love and unity instead of harbingers of hatred and division.

I have been re-reading Thomas Merton’s book, New Seeds of Contemplation and this quote resonated with me. It especially speaks to me in the context of the hatred and division that seems to permeate the world. His words, written in 1961, like Dr King’s mentioned above, are sadly as relevant and prophetic today as they were back then.

THE more I become identified with God, the more will I be identified with all the others who are identified with Him. His Love will live in all of us. His Spirit will be our One Life, the Life of all of us and Life of God. And we shall love one another and God with the same Love with which He loves us and Himself. This love is God Himself. — Thomas Merton in New Seeds of Contemplation p. 66 (Kindle)

May we rise to the invitation to love… to love God, love ourselves, and love our neighbor… yes, even to love even our enemies. As 1 John 4:7 says: Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.