Love Your Neighbor

There is a story about a wealthy oil baron who once commissioned Picasso to paint a portrait of his wife. When the work was completed, the baron was shocked to see the image that had been created. “Why that looks nothing like my wife! You should have painted her the way she really is!” Picasso took a deep breath and said, “I’m not sure what that would be.” Without hesitation, the oil baron pulled out his wallet and removed a photograph of his wife saying, “There, you see, this is a picture of how she really is!” Picasso, bending over, looked at it, and replied, “She is rather small and flat, isn’t she?”

The point is that we don’t all share the same perspective. Sometimes we get stuck in seeing the world in only one way and we forget that others don’t always see things the way we do. How we vote, how we worship, how we engage our community all depends upon our perspective on the world. Just because others don’t see things exactly as we do, doesn’t necessarily make them wrong.

Jesus reminded us that the second greatest commandment is to “love our neighbor as ourselves.” When he was asked who is a neighbor, Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan. This is a story about two men who were about as different as could be.  It didn’t matter that they didn’t share the same worldview, the same theology, politics, or culture, they were still neighbors. They were still called to love one another, as are we.

Let us pray: God of Hope, sometimes it is hard to love people who are different from us. Sometimes their perspective on life rubs us the wrong way. But, we remember today that when we love our neighbors, our lives deepen and we show our love for you.  Grant us your grace, your mercy, and your peace. Help us share these gifts with the world. Amen.