The 4th of July can help us love one another better
Guest Commentary by Bishop Gretchen Rehberg
Speak, Lord, we are listening! It is our diocesan theme, and we have been inviting all our congregations and members to engage in deep listening to God through prayer and scripture. We learn from our listening. We deepen our relationship with God, growing in love.
The great commandment is to love God with all our being, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. We are called to love our neighbor, and if we are going to love our neighbor we need to know our neighbor, we need to listen to our neighbor. So perhaps we could also say “speak, neighbor, we are listening!”
How do we listen to our neighbor?
As I was pondering that question, I started to think about this month of July, a good summer month with an important holiday right at the start. Independence Day, a day of celebration for our country. I grew up with my family going to the Johnson 4th of July parade, dad grilling and eating an outside picnic supper, lighting sparklers and some firecrackers. It was always a good day.
My ancestors include recent arrivals and some who came in the 1700’s, so the story of my family is part for the story of Europeans coming to America. It is not the story, however, of those who were already here when we arrived or those who came in slave ships or those who came from parts of the world where people were excluded from the approved list.
Perhaps listening to my neighbor for me would include simply asking people from different backgrounds to reflect on what the 4th of July means to them. And then shut up and just listen and learn, so that I might better love. The 4th of July can be a complicated holiday for those who have a complicated relationship with the history of this country.
Celebrating love of country not politics
As I think about the upcoming holiday, I also reflected on how we seem to be in a time when people judge other’s love of country based on their political views. When I was a young chemistry postdoctoral fellow, I lived in Switzerland for a year. In that year I learned both that I was incredibly grateful to be an American. I also learned part of my love of country must, indeed for me, include the willingness to point out when I think the country is going astray.
You might have different reasons for the same thought, and yet we cannot say that one loves their country more than the other. People might love and respect and honor in different ways, but that love is real.
If we are to truly listen to our neighbors so that we can get to know them better and so that we might love them more, we need to be open to those who are different. We need to listen without judgement or to refute. We need to listen in order to learn and love.
As we celebrate July 4, this year I invited you this month to find someone to talk with about their love for the country who might be different in their background, perspective and history, and simply listen. Not to refute or judge, but to get to know and understand them better, so that you can love them more.
Speak, Lord, we are listening! Speak, neighbor, we are listening! Let us listen, so that we may love.
The views expressed in this opinion column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of FāVS News. FāVS News values diverse perspectives and thoughtful analysis on matters of faith and spirituality.
Good advice, Bishop….yet given recent Supreme Court decisions that undermine the democratic foundations of our country, I think Lamentations are in order this 4th of July.