This is the time of year when i think about my family. We are an imperfect lot just as most families are. My father died in a car accident with hints that he may have been inebriated from celebrating with his coworkers on the evening before Memorial Day. My mother had bipolar disorder that frequently left her oscillating between dark depression and the paranoia of mania. Early on I learned the importance of loving everyone in my big crazy extended family in spite of any flaws that I witnessed in them or from myself. For the most part each person worked hard to be kind and loving. I have found decades of solace in them even as their numbers have begun to wane. They have been a constant source of love in times when I began to waver or feel despair.
If I had one Bible story to name as my favorite it would surely be The Prodigal Son. It epitomizes the kind of forgiveness that seems to be the central message that Jesus of Nazareth brought to the world. He eschewed warnings of fire and damnation in favor of redemption and second chances. Over and over again he purposely chose to remind us that he came to save us, not condemn us. For me the message of Christmas is all about the power of love and its transformational possibilities.
In this year of 2024 we humans seem to be engaged in a never ending quarrel with one another that has brought splits among friends and family members and fomented wars between nations. We are even using our religious beliefs as cudgels to judge and batter each other, justifying our political choices as though they have been ordained by Jesus himself. We have become judgmental, twisting our ethics to allow innocent people to suffer. The result here in the United States of America is a division between citizens that is as wide as the Grand Canyon with our newly elected president, Donald Trump, boasting about the retribution he intends to wreak on anyone who has ever disagreed with him. He and his cabinet choices are the antithesis of the message of hope and peace that was born on that first Christmas of long ago.
Sometimes a story of unconditional love and forgiveness lives among us even in such difficult times. This past weekend we saw such a selfless demonstration when President Joe Biden pardoned his son, Hunter, of all the crimes that he has committed. It was an act that we all needed to see, a father embracing his imperfect son without apology. President Biden understood full well that Hunter had been a diversionary target that was designed to hurt him more than his son. In a stunning show of true fatherly love he redirected the slings and arrows back toward himself where he believes they belong. It was an act of courage that should inspire us all.
Who among us would not do the same for a son or a daughter? How many of us have watched someone we love become addicted to alcohol or drugs or eating or sex? How helpless have we felt when a family member or friend decided to end life with suicide? As a child or a parent or a friend we have all experienced bitter disappointments from those to whom we are the closest. We have even struggled with our own blunders and sins. Those of us who follow Jesus revel in the second chances that he offers us. We fall, repent and get back up to try again to be our best. This is what life is all about. This is what Jesus was trying to tell us as even as he died on a cross like a convicted criminal.
Whether we believe in God or not, the story of Jesus is a powerful reminder of how we each should strive to live. It is not about judging or spurning those whom we do not understand, but only about unabashedly loving the people that we encounter, even the ones who confound us with behaviors that we do not understand.
Somehow of late we have faltered all across the world. After the tragedy of the Covid pandemic we should have embraced life and each other with abandon but instead fear has divided us. Our goal should not be to wipe out what we do not personally like but rather to insure that we protect the individual rights of every person. This is what our Founding Fathers intended when they set up our nation nearly two hundred fifty years ago. They never envisioned a country as vast and diverse as ours has become, but they would have wanted everyone under our big tent to feel comfortable being themselves. Abraham Lincoln understood that he had to free the slaves. Teddy Roosevelt saw that we needed unpolitical agents to run the vast programs that helped to protect every citizen. Franklin Roosevelt and every President after him until Donald Trump understood that their roles as leaders included even those who voted against them. It is only Trump who seems to believe that loyalty to him is more important than abiding by the Constitution. He is setting up a kinglike cabinet filled with loyalists whose only goal is to please their master and those who comply with him.
In this holy season we all must take time to remember why Jesus came to this earth and the lessons that he taught us. Nothing he said condemned others. Everything he did was beautiful and loving. We would all do well to celebrate with open hearts and a willingness to embrace rather than to spurn. The reason for the season is forgiveness.
All It Takes Is A Little Love 