I don’t know whether I can be called a Christian. I don’t believe in the divinity of Christ. At least, I don’t
see his holiness as anything different than my own. Or different from yours. Or from the effulgent heart
in each of us, even if occasionally dulled.
What I do take seriously is striving to live in accordance with what Jesus taught, no matter how many times I stumble. At least, striving to live in accordance with those things I understand him to have taught: humility, forgiveness, radical kindness, gratefulness and an inclination toward awe.
It takes courage to live like Christ. More than I can hope to claim. Courage to suspend judgement and extend kindness at the precise moment when we are so certain that we are right and just and beyond reproach. Courage to stand up and fight for the invisible and the vulnerable, especially when it is against our own, obvious best interests. Courage to examine ourselves and live in the world as we dream it to be, despite the wagging of fingers, despite what the community might say.
Image Credit: Mediation by Tarcio Saraiva/Flickr made availible via a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic License.
Mahatma Gandhi said: “You must be the change you wish [or dream] to see in the world.”