The OTHER

Probably nothing has been more important to me these days than this stream of thought. I’m not sure I can communicate it in a way that makes much sense to anyone, but I will give it a try.

God loves you. I am absolutely sure of this.

God loves everyone else too. I am just as sure of this as I am that God loves you.

God’s love for everyone else includes the OTHER – that person whom you cannot imagine loving, that person whose very existence is a cause of inconvenience to you, or frustration to you, or pain to you. They are different from you in some way. You may even hate this person. That is why, in your life, they are the OTHER.

Not only does God love this person, but to God, this person is not the OTHER. They are the beloved. Just like you are the beloved. You may think that God has a hard time loving this person, but God does not. It is as easy for God to love your OTHER as it is for God to love you. Sure, there are some things in the life of the OTHER that God does not like, just like there are some things that God does not like in your life. That doesn't stop God from loving either of you. That’s just how God is.

I hope you are aware that there are persons in your life who love you very much. There are, and they want what is best for you. There are persons in the life of the OTHER who love them in much the same way that you are loved. These persons absolutely want what is best for the one they love.

Are you following so far?

Now I need to change the word “you” to the word “me” – because this is about a realization God has given to me about how I relate to the OTHER and to those who love them.

When I do not love the OTHER as God loves them, when I hate them, or ignore them, when I speak words of cursing rather than blessing, I attack not only the OTHER, but I cause great pain to those who love them – all of whom God loves. I am attacking God, cursing God, causing pain to God. I am breaking relationship with those God loves, and whom I am called to love as well. I am breaking relationship with God.

That is sin.

I am tired of sinning. I am tired of hurting those whom God loves. I am tired of people hurting the ones I love. I am tired of sin.

I am sick and tired of having OTHERs in my life.

I am sick and tired of labeling people as OTHERs in order to justify the way we treat them. I am sick and tired of our political process, our economic process, requiring OTHERs in order for us to do business as usual. I am sick and tired of us needing to have OTHERs just so we can feel good about ourselves.

I am sick and tired of sin. And I am sick and tired of saying that certain sins are just what the world is like, and there is nothing we can do about it. I don’t believe that, and I certainly don’t believe I am called to participate in it.

I am sick and tired of having OTHERs in my life, because I am called to be in the process of becoming more Christlike.

And to God, there are no OTHERs.