Today’s Forgiving Fridays: Exquisite Beauty of Life!

 

Who are the Beloved?

 

I am the Beloved. He is Me. She is Me. The Beloved are my Muslim, Jewish, Sikh, Baha’i, Hindu, & Buddhist neighbors, co-workers and friends.  The Beloved are the LGBT Community.

The Beloved are those Single Parents whether mothers or fathers who are penalized for taking a day off to care for their sick child.  The Beloved are those caring for aging, frail, ill elderly parents with no respite in sight.

The Beloved are friends and family dealing with cancer, heart attacks, high blood pressure, vision loss, diabetes & strokes in need of compassion and practical assistance.

The Beloved are those with unseen illness. Disabilities not easily seen and many times not accepted by the family of God.  Disabilities of the mind and soul. The Beloved are those rejected and despised by society who fill the wards of mental hospitals, prisons and halfway houses. Those who don’t fit the Boilerplate of “Success.”

Behold for as Jesus said, Publicans, Harlots and Sinners shall enter Heaven before evangelicals and fundamentalists.  For they have made God’s House a den of thieves.

The Beloved are our Hijabi Muslims Sisters who cover in submission to God but ridiculed for their choice.

The Beloved are Immigrants who live in fear of deportation.

The Beloved are Combat Veterans who risked their lives for this great country, came home in pieces only to find those pieces scattered to ashes by those who know nothing of their true pain.

The Beloved are the vagrants, beggars and homeless seen yet unseen on the streets of most cities and living in the subways with no place to call home.  Lepers and pariahs to those of wealth, influence and substance.

To be One with the Beloved is to become One with those on the outside looking in.

The Beloved are stray dogs and cats.  The Beloved are Lonely and neglected pets who have worn out their amusement factor.  The are Animals hunted to extinction tortured and mutilated to fit the fancy of the latest trends

To Become One with the Beloved is simultaneously a singular and plural experience.  To be the Good Samaritan every day.  Grace and Mercy are the way.

 

 

Luke 10:25-37 New King James Version (NKJV)

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

²⁵ And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

²⁶ He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?”

²⁷ So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’^[a] and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’”^[b]

²⁸ And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.”

²⁹ But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

³⁰ Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. ³¹ Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. ³² Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. ³³ But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. ³⁴ So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. ³⁵ On the next day, when he departed,^[c] he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’ ³⁶ So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?”

³⁷ And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.”

Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”