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.”

Slow Food and Fast(ing)

IV.    Vows of Voluntary Sacrifice

“We freely offer up our appetites, wealth, and pride to relieve the suffering of the world, for the sake of our neighbors and God’s joy.”

18. I will discipline my appetite for food through conscientious diet and periodic fasting, especially from meat and foods that impose exceptional burdens on God’s creation or my neighbors, and by refraining from intoxicants.

("Daily Bread" by knitting iris via Flickr)

Some may wonder what eating habits have to do with living in line with God’s shalom, but movements and cookbooks like More With Less (and now Simply in Season), alongside growing societal awareness of local, fresh, in-season, heirloom, organic, fair trade, hormone free, grass-fed, free-range, whole grain and so on, have drawn much clearer ethical lines between the things we grow, water, weed or purchase, transport, slice, cook, and ultimately put in our mouths. Much more apparent now are the interconnections of our overburdened ecosystems, links between our global, regional and local markets, and the dynamic correlation between the quality and content of our food and our daily health.

But there is more to today’s vow than simply re-connecting with our local farmers and eating fresh, tasty food or just refraining from excessive caffeine, sugars or fats for physical health sake alone. One significant, life-giving piece not prominent in the healthy and sustainable foods movements is attention to periodic fasts.  Sure, New Year’s resolutions and health magazines tout particular diets and portion control, but longstanding religious traditions—including Christian—have a distinctive contribution to make to our spiritual, physical, mental and relational health through the practice of fasting. It has been suggested that in an affluent society, fasting is a far larger sacrifice than giving a little of our money, in a consumptive culture of "more" it teaches us "enough."

Sex, Love and…Peacemaking?

IV.    Vows of Voluntary Sacrifice

“We freely offer up our appetites, wealth, and pride to relieve the suffering of the world, for the sake of our neighbors and God’s joy.”

17. I will discipline my sexual appetite by practicing chastity and purity in my relationships and recreation; I will treat sexual intimacy as a public, lifelong and exclusive covenant for marriage; I will respect the bodily image and sexual dignity of each person as a child of God, and refrain from lust and pornographic media.

(by D. Sharon Pruitt via Flickr)

Wait—sexual intimacy? What does that have to do with nonviolent Christian discipleship? That sounds a whole lot more pleasant than that “expect to be persecuted and bear your crosses” stuff in the other vows!

When we talk about the very real specter of sexual violence and abuse in war-ravaged settings or even behind domestic doors, the connection between sexuality and Christian nonviolence is abundantly clear. But the clarity dissipates as we move closer to our own practices and experiences of sexuality (though some of us may indeed have experienced or even committed some of this more explicit violence).