The Permanents of Religion
(Continued)

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So you see, I cannot “see another’s woe and not be in sorrow too.” I cannot “see another’s grief and not seek for kind relief”.  I cannot “see another’s tear and not feel my sorrows share!”  If we have many of the same needs, then I AM YOU and YOU ARE ME; and since we are biologically 99.9% “of the same substance”, then I cannot see you disrespected without feeling some disrespect.  I cannot chastise you without feeling some remorse. I cannot blow you up, less I blow myself up. I cannot see you starve less I starve myself—no matter your religion. For me, understanding this is getting to the heart of what true religion is my friends! And it brings us full circle right back to principle #1: that I/we believe in the inherent worth and dignity of all people! If I respect myself I have to respect others because all human personality has value or as Edgar Sheffield Brightman would say, human personality has value because we are all made in the image of God. And so the lesson today is that “as long as I have breath, as long as vision lasts; as long as my heart beats, I must answer “yes” to love. Disappointment pierced me through, still I kept on loving you. If they ask what I did best, tell them I said, “yes” to love!” “Move me from arrogance, pompousness and from thinking myself more important than I am… Might all of us be led from calling special privilege justice… Oh Creative Sustaining Force-- of our mixed up, tragic, aspiring, doubting, and insurgent lives, help us to be as good (to each other) as in our hearts we have always wanted to be.”

Foolish, foolish, foolish is the person who thinks they are more than the other.
Foolish, foolish, foolish if we do not see ourselves in or as the other.
Foolish, foolish, foolish if we do not understand, as Dr. King said well, that we are all tied inextricably in a single garment of destiny.

Remember this today, and particularly when you deal with that person you absolutely detest this week… Remember, they are as fragile as you are and as pompous as you are. You are looking at yourself!  We’re all just human beings trying to find meaning in life… We all wish to belong, to be respected, to be appreciated, to be liked, to be enthusiastic, to find someone to share our lives with, and to be safe. These are the permanents in religion and in life and will be around as long as there are Homo sapiens on this planet.

If you fell asleep during this message, wake up because I want to sum it up with these few words: “The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return!”
Amen and Amen.

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Copyright by Rev. John T. Crestwell. All rights reserved. Please contact him for permission to use.