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Loving Others is NEVER Political

Loving Others is NEVER Political

Last updated on: February 20, 2017 at 8:09 pm by John O'Keefe

Loving Others is NEVER Political 2017-02-20T20:09:06-05:00 John O'Keefe

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Loving others, caring for other, being a voice for the marginalized, is never political. To make any of them a political issue is to discount the value of human life, in favor of a self-centered nature. It ignores the reality of the Divine’s teaching that we are to sacrifice self, to serve others. I get that in today’s world, the idea of putting another before self isn’t very popular, but it’s what we are called to do. When we read Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth, we understand how love drives us, how love sets in motion our journey of faith in the Divine. Paul writes:

“So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love. Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self.” 1 Corinthians 13]

‘Love cares more for others than for self.’ Seems pretty straight forward to me. It should not matter what our politics are, we should always love others more than ourselves. Politics, on the other hand, seeks self-interest over the interests of others. When we are political, we demand that things go the way we think, the way we desire. It is the self that is important, and not others.

It never seems to fail, whenever we speak, or write. about things like ending poverty, ending homelessness, ending hunger, accepting refugees, stopping abuse, standing for woman’s rights, confronting racism, desiring equality, or helping the marginalized, we’re accused of being political. I think this is the case with many of us who stand firmly in the teachings of the Divine. We are accused of being political when we strive to make the lives of others better. People who are self-centered, and political, have no way of grasping the Divine’s teaching of love. I believe, if they’re unable to grasp love, pure love, they’re unable to grasp the Divine.

I find those who use the you’re being political card to silent the voices of those who seek to change our culture from a consumer based reality, into one that centers on caring for others, love, are doing so out of a misplaced understanding of placing self before others. If you mention a political party, or elected official, in anything you write, or say, you open the doors to making a political stance; but sometime not mentioning them is impossible. I’ll admit to sometimes bringing about a political spin to what I wrote, sometimes there is no way around it. But most of the time I simply desire to speak to the worlds I read in the Collective Narrative; to live the teachings I receive from the Divine.

Most of the time I could care less about the voices of any critics, they can say what they desire – I can’t change their minds. But sometimes I am very confused by their playing the political card. You see, when I bring to voice what I believe is a teaching of the Divine, it is to change hearts; to get others to think, it’s not to be political. In that, I believe, we need to ask ourselves some very important questions, ‘What makes standing of the teachings of the Divine political? Is seeing something wrong with the way we live, and how we treat others, always political? Is our voice any less valuable because some people see what we write, or say, as political?’

It centering our voices, our lives, on the teachings of the Divine; the teachings of love. When others try to stifle our voices by turning love into politics, we need to stand for love. We need to stand strong, stand for love, and be willing to be pushed to the side when others claim our views are political.

NOTE: You may have read 1 Corinthians 13 before, but I challenge you to read it again, and pray over each line – meditate over each line – let each line move in your spirit, and become the center of your faith journey. See how the words of Paul are being lived in this word – and when you realize they’re not, ask yourself, ‘How can I be a voice for change?’

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