Beacon of Hope

            Recently I heard an inspirational speech, given by a high school senior, entitled, “The U.S. Constitution – A Beacon of Hope”. In summary, the U.S. Constitution, including the Bill of Rights (First 10 Amendments) was crafted by our founding fathers to insure that every citizen was accorded the freedom and opportunity to obtain personal fulfillment – to be all he could be – pursuit of happiness.

            As the years went by, and society changed, so the Constitution had to be changed (amended). When we decided slavery was wrong (on so many levels), we changed our Constitution by abolishing slavery (13^th Amendment). As a follow-up, the 14^th Amendment granted citizenship to the former slaves, a Beacon of Hope for almost 4 million people. The 19^th Amendment gave millions of women the right to vote. Another Beacon of Hope for half the population,

            Since 1776, the US flag had been considered a Beacon of Hope, and it was illegal to treat it with any manner of disrespect. But in 1989, the Supreme Court ruled that desecration of the flag by burning, trampling, ripping, spitting, or any other act of disrespect, is “Freedom of Speech”, guaranteed in the very first Amendment.  Again, a Beacon of Hope for those people who wish to express their personal viewpoints.

            In the early 1700s, John and Charles Wesley were responsible for the formation of Methodism. The FIRST disagreement they had with the Church of England, and the reason they originally separated was the church’s belief that “God has determined from eternity whom He will save and whom He will damn” (predestination). Wesley regarded this to be erroneous doctrine, and insisted that the love of God was universal. UNIVERSAL. That seems simple – all inclusive, but alas, the history of the church and its doctrine have been rife with arguments AGAINST God’s Universal Law.

            As with the U.S. Constitution, the Christian doctrine should have changed to be a Beacon of Hope to people worldwide. We should have welcomed Native Americans, African Americans, Africans in Africa, Eskimos, Chinese, Russians into the Church because God’s love is universal.

            We should have agreed that God’s universal love includes women, children, all races, all economic situations, pedophiles, murderers, spouse abusers, child abusers, LGBTQ etc. people – ALL people. It took decades and almost 2 centuries for us to decide women are people too, deserving of voting.

We should have remembered that Jesus said the most important Commandments are Love God and Love Your Neighbor. There is NOTHING Jesus said that excludes ANYONE from being your neighbor. You are to love UNIVERSALLY.

            Jesus did NOT say you have to LIKE or AGREE with or CONDONE your neighbor’s behavior. There are practices and customs by people around the world  that the discipline does not address, such as polygamy and cannibalism. We seldom see those practices in the U.S., and Jesus did not say you have to participate in any of these.  

  It is interesting that the religious texts of the world’s four major religions (Christianity, Judaism, Hindu, Islam)  ALL require one loves his neighbor.

            Are some people/peoples hard to love? Absolutely YES.  Is it easier to leave them to God to love, while we sit in our cozy living rooms and hate them? Absolutely YES.  Does loving them even mean we have to welcome them into our homes? Absolutely NO.  Does loving them mean we condone their actions or beliefs? Absolutely NO.  Does loving them mean we have to agree with them? Absolutely NO. Does loving them mean we even have to LIKE them? Absolutely NO.

So what does loving them mean? I think it means many versions of “Love the sinner. Hate the sin,” or as Jesus said, “Love your enemies.” Let that sink in a minute. I mean REALLY SINK IN.

I hear hate speech every day from just about everywhere except in the shower. Friends, relatives, TV, radio, podcasts, billboards, pamphlets, books, social media… and almost every single word is hate of another person: Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Nancy Pelosi, Robert E. Lee, Rush Limbaugh, and the list goes on ad nauseum. NEVER do I hear something like, “Nancy Pelosi has very different ideas from mine. I will pray for God to give her wisdom and guidance.” Or “Rush Limbaugh is very outspoken, but his ideas and philosophy are directly opposite mine. I will pray for God to give him wisdom and tolerance.”

Yes. The Constitution shines its Beacon of Light upon you and your freedom of speech.

But I challenge you to love your neighbor, and if you MUST spout hatred against another, can you either do it quietly, or spew with vengeance against the ideas or doctrines, rather than the person. Can you be a “Beacon of Hope” to your neighbors?