WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR?
The question, “Who is my neighbor?,” put to Jesus by a lawyer more than two millennia ago, has never felt more urgent.
The question behind the question feels urgent too: “Who must I love?”
We can debate policy but not the worth of human beings, nor how we treat them. The imperative to love God and neighbor has not changed. Nor has doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly. Either we believe all people are made in the image of God, or we don’t. Either we consider ourselves followers of Jesus first, and citizens of our countries second, or we don’t.
WHEN DID EMPATHY BECOME A SIN?
Kindness matters. Dignity for all. Love wins. Simple principles, right? Few people would consider them radical.
Until now.
Politically-charged animosities have fractured our communities, neighborhoods and families. Life-long friendships have ended. Families have been torn apart. Even the prospect of trying to understand one another feels threatening.
It feels to me like our social fabric is at risk.
Along with our long-held tradition of caring for one another. Refugees and immigrants are not just being turned away at our borders, they are being hunted, dehumanized and incarcerated without due process. Kids are being separated from their parents. Cutbacks in humanitarian aid have caused well more than a half a million deaths, two thirds of whom are children. Think about Sudan, Ukraine or Gaza.
All this makes me drop to my knees in prayer. And that was before people started calling empathy a sin.