Thursday, March 21, 2013

LOVING YOUR OWN KIND


I read a blurb the other day about cats and people.  It said that many cats prefer people to other cats, and many people prefer cats to other people.  I can testify to the first proposition on Baxter’s part.  Only one thing regularly sets him off in a hissy fit, other cats.  It doesn't matter the size, gender or disposition of the unknown feline.  If it’s within sight and/or sound of Baxter, it is an instant upset for him.  There are no trial periods to get to know each other, no distinctions of good cats and bad cats, no waiting to see what develops.  There is only one alternative for another cat in Baxter’s world—GET OUT OF HERE!!!  For such an otherwise docile and mild mannered creature, when it comes to keeping company with his own kind, Baxter is rude, intolerant, and down right nasty.  He definitely prefers people to other cats.

We can sometimes get that way with our own kind as well.  No one can please us.  Everyone has something they are lacking in our estimation.  We find something wrong with each other before we know anything right about him or her.  We see others as threats to who we are, and then envy and jealousy begin to color our relationships.  We get into one-upmanship with each other, trying to show that we are better than the next guy in some way—better looking, stronger, richer, more successful, or whatever will separate us from them.  We want to stand apart from and stand over our fellows to make our unique mark on this world, one that others will notice and admire.  Rather than welcome another’s gifts as contributions to a common effort, we find flaws in them, exclude them and plot to outdo them for the sake of our petty egos.

Jesus deals with us so differently.  He looks at what He can salvage from our mistakes, rather than take advantage of them.  He tries to show our situation in the best light, so that His grace can heal and complete it.  He does not view others as a threat to be reckoned with, but as brothers and sisters to value and with whom to share life.  Jesus’ table fellowship reached to the learned and powerful and to the least and sinful.  He didn’t measure others’ worth by the standards of the day, but by the image of God He recognized in each of them.  He met them as diamonds in the rough who with a little polishing and refinement would shine with the light of God’s love as His disciples.  He loved them into the new life of His Spirit, and they, in turn, carried that Spirit to others in the mission of spreading the Good News.

How could Jesus be so powerful to transform people this way?  He loved His own kind.  Unlike Baxter’s aversion for fellow cats and ours for many fellow humans, Jesus welcomed the humanity He shared with others.  They felt comfortable being who they were in His presence, because He was comfortable with His humanity infused with His divine life.  So whether saint or sinner, strong or weak, official or common folk, Jesus spoke to them with respect, encountered them as someone unique and special, and urged them to be better than they ever imagined they could be, because He saw the divine potential in which they were created.  The Lord didn’t lord it over others, but He used His power to raise them up to be able to see themselves and fellow human beings in the light of grace.  In this vision, sinners are forgiven; the poor, meek, persecuted and sorrowing are blessed; strangers and tax collectors are invited to the table; the sick are healed and the dead come to life:  all because Jesus loved His own kind with the divine passion of His sacred heart.

It’s easy to love our pets.  They aren’t like us, and in our adjusting to them, the opposites attract and bond.  It’s a lot harder to love our own kind, so hard that it takes a kind of love that is more than we can give.  This is the love that died for us on the cross, and poured out its Spirit from there.  Pick up this Spirit and nothing seems the same.  Maybe someday even Baxter will be nice to another cat.