Humility and Generosity
No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants anymore, because a servant does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have heard from my Father.
John 15:13-15
Teach us to trust in order to love
God,
We are lonely,
isolated behind glowing boxes
that promised to build connections,
but conditioned us to build walls,
brick by brick,
click by click.
We are hiding
behind online personas
created from our soul’s wish list,
skinnier body,
flawless complexion,
great vacations,
perfect marriage,
saintly kids,
dream job,
smiling faces,
happy emojis.
We are scared
of revealing our real list
instead of our wish list;
we are afraid that what’s wished
gets more likes than what’s real.
We aren’t skinny; we have love handles.
Our skin is not flawless; we have pimples and wrinkles.
We didn’t go to Bora Bora; we went to Branson.
Our marriages aren’t perfect; we are imperfect.
Our kids aren’t saintly; they’re prickly.
Our jobs aren’t dreamy; thorns and thistles are stinging.
Our faces are smiling but our hearts are frowning.
Happy emojis hide frustration and sadness.
WE ARE EXHAUSTED.
Jesus, Our Friend,
You who hung on the cross
naked, vulnerable, exposed.
You gave your whole self for us;
you never wanted anything other than us,
imperfect as we are,
love handles and all,
to handle all of us with love.
Our souls are never hidden from you;
The pimples, the wrinkles, the sadness.
Teach us to trust in your love for us.
We need to recover
the trust that abuse eroded,
when we gave ourselves to others,
who treated our loneliness as opportunity,
our insecurities as a place for hiding,
our fear as a security blanket,
and our exhaustion as if they won the fight.
Teach us to trust in your love for us.
Let us trust you enough to be generous.
You fully gave yourself to us;
we want to give ourselves to you
in the freedom of perfect love
and the safety of intimate friendship.
Let us trust you enough to be humble,
humble enough to be vulnerable,
vulnerable enough to be intimate.
Rid us of the pride that hides
our true selves behind our wish lists
and open our hearts to the friendship
that only humility brings.
And, after all that wrestling,
learning to trust in your love,
grant us the courage to trust
the love of our siblings in Christ.
We need courage
to give ourselves to each other
with radical generosity
in the sacredness of humility.
Tear down the walls of suspicion!
Break every chain of our pride!
We want to love freely and truly;
we want to extend genuine hugs.
We want to lift up the wounded
and give up our lives for our love.
We want to say to our siblings
You have to trust in my love.
Amen