Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
Easy to understand, hard to do. When the world is full of trials and evil and pain, how do we forgive those who we believe are causing the trouble?
In my way of thinking, the first thing to do is to realize that nothing is as easy or simple as it seems. Take the war in Ukraine. While it may be easy to demonize Putin and the Russians, there is plenty of times we, the US have behaved similarly. We have fought over land that we believed was ours. Whether it’s the doctrine of discovery and the Native Americans, the land now in our Southwest, or even the Revolutionary War. I’m not trying to suggest that the action is justified, but rather there’s always a story behind the easy demonization of one party.
The second thing I think we can do is realize that every human, or at least every human who isn’t a sociopath, desires the same things. We want what’s in Maslow’s hierarchy – food, water, shelter, security, love, belonging, feeling of accomplishment, becoming who we’re supposed to be, in roughly that order. The folks we demonize want that too. Their concept of how to do it is different than ours, but their motivation is the same.
I believe that when we find an easy target for our animosity, we find an easy way to channel our hurt and anger, but that’s not necessarily right. Take the argument about black lives matter. Whether you support that rally cry or not, it’s easy to pick a side and demonize the other. The truth, however is that battle cry started because there are some very real systemic problems in this country tracing back hundreds of years. To demonize one side lets us abdicate in trying to resolve the bigger issues. We can blame the one bad guy, and move on to the rest of our day.
For me, the hardest part about taking on the burdens of another is for me to get over the notion that they don’t deserve it; that they made their bed, or caused their trouble, or caused my trouble. But if I remember that they are motivated by the same root needs that I have, that the problems are so much bigger than they are, and that there’s likely a whole system that resulted in their action, it’s harder to demonize them. It’s harder to make them the other. Once I remember we’re all in the same human race, it’s easier to share their burden.
I will never look into the eyes of anyone who God does not love.
This makes the burden-sharing a little easier. Even. If it’s a kind smile or prayer, we should all strive to take on the burdens of others, especially those we try to demonize.
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