Tuesday 27 May 2014

The least of me

"What if the “least of these” that Jesus talks about turns out to be part of our own selves? The parts of ourselves that are sick and homeless and hungry and thirsty and naked.

We are called to love ourselves in our entirety: to honour every part of ourselves — not just our strengths but our manifold weaknesses. Even our anger and despair and doubt.

We are called to accept all in ourselves that we have abandoned and hidden or denied or undervalued, to drop the pretence and posturing we adopt to make ourselves acceptable, to reconcile our inner conflict and division against ourselves, judging ourselves harshly and badly, neglecting ourselves — to love ourselves as we are loved by God.

We are called to face our true centre, to resolve to live out of the selves that have been loved since the foundation of the world.

We are called, too, to love one other as we love ourselves. Indeed, how we love ourselves will determine how well we can love the other: we are all made in the image of God.

So who do we find most difficult to love? Aren’t they people who remind us of the parts of ourselves we fear or dislike?  We are called to love each other in our entirety. Even the parts, especially the
parts, we would prefer to ignore, deny or overlook. We are called to value each other equally. And we are called to love even those we make the outsider, who represent the things that we have banished."
-Sheena McMain

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