Categories
love Poetry

Judging and Loving

It makes one unhappy to judge people and happy to love them.

Day, Dorothy. The Reckless Way of Love: Notes on Following Jesus (Plough Spiritual Guides: Backpack Classics) (pp. 72-73). Plough Publishing House. Kindle Edition.

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I know there is an Accuser
(poor Job didn’t know)
its voice constantly in my ear
always outraged
(thought God was his adversary)
assuming the worst
about everyone and everything
(when God was so proud)
pronouncing judgement
endlessly, monotonously
(of his servant and friend)
until I remember
I’m asked to love, not judge
(that, after accepting his apology)
and my brow relaxes
and the unhappy knot in my head loosens
(he gave him a tour of the great acts of creation)
and I find myself loving instead of judging,
happy, almost
(culminating in Leviathan sporting on God’s leash)
as my dog,
who loves me without judging me.

dw

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Categories
love

First love the truth

 

It is clear, then, that to love others well we must first love the truth.

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.

The truth I must love in my brother is God Himself, living in him. I must seek the love of the Spirit of God breathing in him.

— Thomas Merton, No Man Is an Island