We’ve been talking about Ordinary Women since September.
Each of them responded to something in their lives by making a change that
affected more than just their immediate circle. Frances Perkins left us the
legacy of fair labor laws. Florence Nightingale and Clara Barton both improved
nursing because they were faced with crisis during wartime. The Bible women
Esther, Ruth, Naomi, Judith, Mary of Magdala, and Mary of Nazareth faced the
demands of their lives with courage and faith that made them heroines in their
lifetimes and beyond. Teresa of Avila and Hildegard of Bingen, though separated
by about 400 years each impacted the church of their time with their insight
and teaching.
For each of them, there was a transitional moment in their
life. The time when they were faced with something that demanded a response. For each of them, the response was a form
of love of their neighbor. They gave of themselves as Jesus commands in the
Great Commandment. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and
strength; and your neighbor as yourself.” Each woman looked beyond seeming
differences and found something to love. These saints didn’t ask ‘does the
soldier, the worker, the seeker, the endangered, the hurting, the lonely look
or think like me?’ They simply reached out and cared for those who needed help.
How do we deal with the changes and transitions in our
lives? Do we reach out, or lock ourselves away? Each day we have the opportunity to choose a response when confronted
with a co-worker, a stranger, an inconsiderate driver, bad news, or a myriad of
other things. The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church is calling for a
change-to be the Jesus Movement in our environments. This is a call for each of
us to love God and love neighbor. As Bishop Michael Curry noted in a recent
sermon, ‘there is no asterisk’ in this commandment.
In his recent book The
Power of Love, and in all his sermons, Bishop Curry issues a call to love. Love is the foundation of dealing with the
changes and challenges around us. In his well-known Wedding Sermon, Curry calls us to remember the “redemptive power of
love”. He says, “there is power in love to help and heal…to lift up and
liberate…to show us how to live.” Living love is to “change not only their
lives, but the very life of the world itself.”
The Episcopal Church has issued an invitation to The Way of Love. This includes 7
Practices: Turn to Jesus, Learn from Scripture, Pray, Worship, Bless, Go, Rest.
I invite you to join me during Advent with some of the exercises and activities
outlined in the Way of Live Advent
Calendar and Curriculum. You can use the Advent calendar incorporated in
the weekly planner pages available from this blog during Advent. If you prefer,
gather a group together to do the study as outlined online. Next week we’ll
look more closely at the 7 Practices of the Way of Love in preparation for
Advent.
This week, in all the bustle of Thanksgiving preparations, I
invite you to consider how to love God and neighbor in a life changing way like
the women of God we’ve learned about over the past couple months.
Does any of them inspire you more than the others? What in
your life is like hers? Can you make changes to live more fully committed to
what you believe in?
