In the Same Way

I.        Vows of Affirmation

“We devote our daily life to God, and to serving our neighbors as images of God”

("Holy Trinity" Andrej Rublev via Wikimedia Commons)

2. I will seek the image of God in each and every person; I will treat them as fully worthy of the good I desire for myself.

The foundation for loving our neighbor (not to mention our enemy) is the conviction that they bear the very image of God and even have a calling from this God who loves them unceasingly. Trappist monk Thomas Merton writes clearly, “[A person] cannot be at peace with himself or with God unless he is trying to love others with a love that is not merely his but God’s own love.” Merton offers great insight into today’s vow in the following two paragraphs from, No Man Is an Island:

 “It is clear, then, that to love others well we must first love the truth. And since love is a matter of practical and concrete human relations, the truth we must love when we love our [sisters and] brothers is not mere abstract speculation: it is the moral truth that is to be embodied and given life in our own destiny and theirs. This truth is more than the cold perception of an obligation, flowing from moral precepts. The truth we must love in loving our brothers is the concrete destiny and sanctity that are willed for them by the love of God. One who really loves another is not merely moved by the desire to see him contented and healthy and prosperous in this world. Love cannot be satisfied with anything so incomplete. If I am to love my [sister], I must somehow enter deep into the mystery of God’s love for [her]. I must be moved not only by human sympathy but by that divine sympathy that is revealed to us in Jesus and which enriches our own lives by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in our hearts.”

"The truth I love in my brother [or sister] cannot be something merely philosophical and abstract. It must be at the same time supernatural and concrete, practical and alive. And I mean these words in no metaphorical sense. The truth I must love in my brother is God himself, living in him. I must seek the life of the Spirit of God breathing in him. And I can only discern and follow that mysterious life by the action of the same Holy Spirit living and acting in the depths of my own heart.”  (pp. 6-7 in the 2003 Fall River Press edition)

In line with Thomas Merton’s discovery, with the “action of the Holy Spirit living and acting in the depths of our own hearts,” we seek and find the image of God in all people. In today’s vow we also find the source of our love through God’s own love for others: “I will seek the image of God in each and every person; I will treat them as fully worthy of the good I desire for myself.”

Options for Reflection and Action…

On the Image of God in Others:

• Bring to mind several people you love. Why do you love them? Who are the folks you feel obligated to love? Today, seek out what God loves in them.
• Bring to mind a few folks (or groups) you have trouble loving. What makes it difficult to love them or wish God’s shalom for them?  Today, notice how your perspective and motivations transform as you realize God’s image and call is in each and every person.

 On the Image of God in Me:

Read Jeremiah 1:4-9’s account of being set apart by God from before birth with a “concrete destiny and sanctity.”

• What has God appointed you to do?
• Like Jeremiah, what are your objections to God’s will for you?
• In light of being formed and known in the womb by God, what words is God putting in your mouth today?

On the Image of God in Me and You:

Sit with this short meditation, “Myself?” from, Tales of a Magic Monastery by Theophane the Monk. How does it shift your interaction with yourself and others?

I sat there in awe as the old monk answered our questions. Though I’m usually shy, I felt so comfortable in his presence that I found myself raising my hand. “Father, could you tell us something about yourself?”

He leaned back. “Myself?” he mused. There was a long pause.

“My name …

used to be …

Me.

But now …

it’s you.”

Prayer Focus (Drawn from Genesis 1:26-27 and Psalm 139:13-18):

Our God, you have made all of us in your image, according to your likeness.

From my very creation you have searched and known me,

From the very Creation you have searched and known every human.

For it was you who formed our inward parts, both me and my brother.

You knit us together in our mothers’ wombs, both me and my sister.

I am wonderfully and fearfully made.

And so are my fellow humans.

And so is my enemy.

We praise you, Creator God, for your wonderful works.

I confess I have not always remembered that your image is on all humans.

Open our eyes to see that of you in each person, even in me.

Open our hearts to love and will for each person what you love and will for them.

May it be so in us. Amen!