Jul 04, 2021

  Living in Unconditional Love (17) 

“Love flows from God to humans without effort: 

As a bird glides through the air without moving its wings- 

Thus, they go wherever they wish united in body and soul, 

Yet separate in form.” 

–Mechtild of Magdeburg 

My wife Eileen died from esophageal cancer in February 2020 one year after being diagnosed, 60 years to the day that we met on Long Island. Then my brother Tom became ill, and I spent a total of six weeks being with him in Ohio, but he died in October 2020. My sister-in-law Sue Mahoney died from Covid-19 in January 2021. On top of it all stood the pandemic, locking everyone down for over a year. 

07/04/2021 The year is half over, and time flies by. Yesterday (Saturday) was one year after the burial of Eileen’s ashes. Barbara is up for the holiday, and we visited the cemetery. I am doing a paint-by-number of Eileen holding Barbara at 2 weeks of age, after the baptism at the church, in 1962. These paintings bring Eileen back in memory and bring me peace and joyful thoughts while working carefully painting. 

Dan and Alissandra’s baby is scheduled to arrive on July 8th. They are working hard to prepare for the new addition and are looking forward (with some trepidation) to adding the new little one to the household. I remember well the feelings we expressed at this time just before the addition of a new little one – a mixture of love, fear that we would be overwhelmed, and excitement. As our family grew, the little ones joined in the excitement of anticipation and welcoming. 

We went to my son Drew and Emily’s place, an hour away, to visit on Saturday and play with their two little ones. Fun relaxing time on that sad but important date. The joy of playing with wee ones can not be overstated for taking your mind away from life events, with new and important joyful events.. 

I have pondered our nation, whose ideals exceeded those of what we understand of the actions of the authors. Most if not all the critical founders of this country had slaves, which were considered by most aristocrats to be just part of the part of the makeup of the society, despite that much of the world had rejected slavery by that time. Slavery had been a part of the country from the start, and that mentality is still prevalent to a great extent, only not calling it slavery, but the results are the same – the designation of non-whites to be less than human, no matter what the words say. The so-called ‘conservative’ today really implies white supremacy, which is too bad, as there are good conservative economic principles that have nothing to do with what today is called the “right”, or fear-driven politics which has become the norm of the Republican party. I am saddened but not surprised by the rise of the “Tea Party”, or white supremacy by another label. Trump showed the viability of racial (or any minority group including physical deformity) hatred that is part and partial of much of the country, stemming from the roots of our nation. Progress has been made during my lifetime, but it is painfully slow. God is assuring us that this is nature of humanity; the progress in the 2000 years since Jesus has been continuous (3 steps forward and 2 ¾ steps backward is usual) but the steps towards ‘heaven on earth’ still has a long way to go, as the reality of a New Jerusalem is still a vision, if it ever arrives. Each generation must learn this anew, and it is an ever-present reality. But Jesus said that the “Kingdom of God is here!” Here, right here, right now. the Kingdom of God includes all the messiness, all the pain, everything we see around us, including all the beauty. Watching the rescue efforts in the collepsed condominium in Florida is both heart rendering and fulfilling to see the workers risking their own lives to help others, hoping against hope. 

Our task is simple: love one another, as God has loved us. This does mean to speak up when injustice is made clear to us, as that is the decisive moment that God is calling to each of us, now. 

Meditation  

Gentle One, You are holding us gently as we strive to being Your Being to your tired and strife-filled world. At times I am weary of the battle, but it is in Your hands. Perhaps pain-filled times are necessary to that we turn more towards Your Love that fills the univers, so that Your Love can overflow to help those who You place in our path. I ask for Your strength and encouragement as our nation and world suffers greatly.