The author, Emily Esfahani Smith, describes ingredients that will create a meaningful life and result in happiness.
First, a sense of belonging, whether family, friends or colleagues. Belonging makes us feel that we matter and that we have people where we can be our true selves.
The second ingredient, purpose, motivates and energizes us to do something for others. It can be our job, volunteer service or a pastime.
The third ingredient: storytelling. We are all storytellers in that we try to make sense out of our lives and form an identity.
The final ingredient: transcendence. We try to live for someone or something greater than ourselves.
But I would add one more ingredient: there’s within every human being a subconscious if not conscious quest for what is ultimately good and true and beautiful; we call that God. To paraphrase St. Augustine in his classic “Confessions” of the fourth century: our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee, O God.
Now what does God's word say to us? Jesus in today’s Gospel asks us to love our enemies. The real challenge is to love the people we live and work with, relatives and neighbors who annoy us (and whom we probably annoy). To love our enemies is to create and nurture a friendly, helpful and welcoming aura or atmosphere around us. Jesus in the Gospels instills within us a vision that sees beyond stereotypes, politics and appearances and recognizes the “spark of the divine” in every one, to paraphrase Scott Peck's “The Road Less Traveled,” no matter how “bad” or “unlovable” people may seem. In the Greek text of Matthew’s Gospel, the word for love is agape. That indicates an unconditional love for our fellow human beings, wishing them not ill will, but all good.
You don’t have to like someone to love them. The agape that Jesus asks us to have for our “enemies” means that, no matter how much he/she upsets us, we will never let bitterness close our hearts to them nor will we seek anything but their good. Agape recognizes the humanity we share with all people who call God “Our Father” – and that love begins in our own homes, workplaces and neighborhoods.
Today's word of God first carries us back to the Book of Leviticus, one of the first five books in the Hebrew Torah or the Christian Pentateuch. The author demands that we be holy because God is holy.
The author then asks: are we compassionate with one another? Are we honest? Are we fair? Because we are created in the image of God, so we ought to reflect godly behavior in our daily lives.
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Paul in his letter to the Christian community at Corinth in Greece proclaims that we are a living temple of God. The awesome Spirit of God dwells within us. Worldly wisdom, Paul continues, pales in light of godly wisdom. Paul concludes that all things are ours because we belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God. Paul challenges us to become living temples of God.
In the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus makes radical demands upon us: love your enemies; if someone slaps you on one side of the face, offer the other; give to everyone who asks. Do to others as you would have them do to you. How can anyone practice some of these ethical teachings of Jesus? Who can possibly “give to everyone who asks?” Are these teachings hyperbole or exaggeration?
A few people, for example, Francis of Assisi or Dorothy Day, have tried to take these literally. But for most people, they’re not very practical. So the question remains: how understand these ethical teachings?
First, we have to remember that Jesus connects our love of God with our love for one another. The judgment scene of Matthew 25 says this loudly and clearly: when I was hungry, when I was thirsty, etc. We can’t say we love God and yet neglect fellow human beings in need.
Second, these ethical teachings have to be linked to the mission of Jesus. Jesus proclaims that the kingdom of God is in our midst. Yes, the kingdom is here but not completely or fully here. You and I are living in-between the historical coming of Jesus centuries ago in Bethlehem and the final coming of Jesus at the end-time. We live in the tension between.
Jesus indicates the goal or thrust of our ethical behavior, but this goal may not always be achievable. For example, "giving to everyone who asks" is not always possible, yet it does indicate the direction of our lives: be generous.
To the person who strikes you on one side of the face, Jesus says, offer the other as well. But sometimes we have to stand up against wrongs; sometimes we have to fight against evil: for example, the evil of Nazism. Sometimes we may have to take someone’s life in self-defense. But the teaching of Jesus indicates again the thrust or direction of our lives, that is, we should try as often as possible to be peacemakers, healers, bridge builders, reconcilers.
And so, the radical ethical teachings of Jesus create tension between the present and final stages of the kingdom of God. The genuine disciple lives in this tension by seizing the many opportunities to do good today. To quote John Wesley: “Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.” Amen.
