“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (John 13:34).
The other day we got a second cat. Our first cat is a couple of years old and just because it seemed like a nice idea at the time we decided to bring a little kitten home to join our family.
Now, the thing about cats is that they are solitary animals and very territorial. Perhaps if our first cat were a little older, it would have been almost impossible to have the two cats come together and get along. But instead, the older cat was only a few years older, and so with a bit of time and effort the two cats were able to come together and live in a relative sort of harmony together.
The biggest risk with putting two cats together is that they will fight and attack each other. And this is an even greater risk when one cat is much older than the other cat. And so – under instruction from the vet – we came up with a strategy to introduce the two animals to each other and to maintain the peace so that they would be able to get along in relative harmony causing the least amount of damage and the least amount of disruption to everyone’s life.
And I have been thinking about those cats as I have been thinking about myself and my neighbour.
When Christ came to Earth as the Son of God, He taught a new commandment… “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (John 13:34).
And this is what all of His teaching really focused on. This love of one another. This welcoming of my neighbour, even though my flawed human nature means that I have little natural incentive to welcome fellow-souls. There is little in me that wishes to bond with others. There is little in me that will naturally aim to bond with another. And there is even less that wishes to love my neighbour as myself.
And so, just as we had to do with those two cats, God provides me with incentives for this… Just as we introduced those two cats to each other through a screen door, and then put them into the same room and then – finally – were able to leave them alone, so too does God do these things with my soul and the souls of others. You see, I have various trials and tribulations in my life. Some of these are terrible things that happen to me that put me into the presence of another soul. This is like the two cats watching each other through the screen. For example, when I am sick, medical professionals care for me. And in their treatment of me they are able to demonstrate to me what my behaviour should be to others. And then later, when I meet others who experience a similar thing, it is as though God put me into a room with the other cat, and I can get comfortable in being around my neighbour, until finally God leaves us together in the room and I am expected to love my neighbour in thought, word and deed.
And it occurs to me today that I have very little in my life that commends me to this sort of approach. Possibly because I have very rarely thought about how much like a cat I really am – selfish and solitary, and very rarely considering the needs of others…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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