And now faith, hope, and
love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.It
is so easy to love some people, and to pray for them. From earliest childhood we have
thanked God for our parents, grandparents, siblings, friends. Our prayer list may change
over time, but the idea remains the same: We ask God’s love for those we love.
The challenge comes when we consider the call to pray for everyone, to
care for all humanity, for people we don’t know and for people we don’t like
very much.
I learned how tough this can be when I was a junior in college.
That’s when my older brother died in Viet Nam. Before leaving for his funeral, I
spoke with each of my professors. My Russian professor reminded me that my family’s
grief was also being experienced at that same moment by a family in North Viet Nam. Of all
the words people offered to console me at that difficult time, those stark words are the
ones that have stayed with me.
My family was not alone in grief. War brings suffering to people on all
sides of the battle. Parents on the other side of the world don’t love their children
any less than we do. And it hurts so much to lose someone you love.
But I think there was even more to my professor’s message. It was
a reminder that, despite our differences, we are all very much alike as part of God’s
creation, each of us fashioned in the image of God. We may not like the things some people
do, we may disagree with their world view. But how can we fail to love the image of God
reflecting from their souls?
God of Love, there are many things about this world we cannot
understand. Give us faith; give us hope; and most of all give us the charity to love the
unlovable and forgive the unforgivable. We ask this for the sake of Jesus’ who loved
us unto the cross. Amen.
Gwenn Djupedal
