The Gentle and the Harsh

II.      Vows of Rejection

“We renounce violence of the heart, tongue and fist, neither willing nor working harm to any”

8. I will reject violence of the tongue: I will not speak or write any curse, insult, abuse, slander, deception, falsehood, or gossip

(by Meredith Farmer via Flicker)

My grandmother used to chide (gently) her quarreling grandchildren, “A gentle answer turns away anger.” I loved my grandmother and thought her wise, but I always found it an annoying thing to be told in the heat of a good bicker. As inopportune as it sometimes was, I eventually took the verse to heart. When bullies at school picked on me (I was, after all, a flamingly self-righteous little know-it-all), I tried practicing Proverbs 15:1. But the encounters frequently ended in my stirred up anger…or tears…or both (and the antagonists got what they wanted--a reaction out of me)! By junior high I deemed “the soft answer” only useful for respectable and proper grandmothers. The young life required an eye for an eye, or rather, insult for insult. 

In Secret

Diana Kathrina Leomo via Flickr

I.        Vows of Affirmation

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

5. I will daily seek to do good for someone without reward or recognition.

We love to make our decisions on cost-benefit analyses. Will the costs and the gains at least equalize, if not bring significant reward? But the way of Jesus often leaves behind this safe, business-wise pragmatism—at least at first glance. “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you for righteousness sake and utter all kinds of evil against you on my account.” Really!? The costs look a lot more painful than the ambiguous “blessedness” gain! “Love your enemies, do good, and lend expecting nothing in return.” What kind of foolish risk is this? 

The Very Image

I.        Vow of Affirmation

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

    
       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.

It’s the cashier at your grocery store, the neighbor whose name you don’t know but you wave to every morning, the sleazebag womanizer on that “reality” show, your favorite song leader at church, your most opinionated and least favorite coworker, your implied national enemy, it’s the gaggle of high schoolers each with eyes and thumbs locked to their phones,  it’s your mother.  The image of God. It is in all of them, it’s in you fractured and trampled in the mud though it may be. 

By Through Painted Eyes via Flickr

“Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness…

So God created humankind in God’s image,

          in the image of God he created them;

          male and female God created them.”