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As we continue to adjust to the new semester, we’re afforded a time of fresh starts, of new beginnings, a time to reflect more deeply on what it means to live in the midst of community.
In a world, a nation, and a society that enjoys heaping on guilt, holding back forgiveness, and never forgetting, our need for deeper reflection is so great. How often is it that we find ourselves holding back from entering into relationship with folks who are different than we are? How often is it that, instead of offering forgiveness or grace or patience, we hold on, we struggle to let go, we refuse to enter in – into relationship and into community? How often do we miss the opportunities we have to begin living in peace?
The solution to our problems and our separations is relatively simple. It is love. How to love is the difficult part. Love, real and true, is rarely pretty. It is often so incredibly difficult that we find ourselves just giving up.
Loves requires sacrifice. Love requires self-discipline. Love requires a giving-up of ourselves. We possess the ability, deep in our hearts, to change the world. To bring about peace, reconciliation, and a unity based on the acknowledgement and appreciation of our differences. We will change the world, we will make it better, if only we remember that the only solution to everything and anything is love – love mixed with a little bit of grace.
Embarking on our new school year, let’s take time to reflect on what authentic love means in this community. What does it look like today? What can it look like tomorrow?
“We have learned that the only solution is love, and that love is found in community.” – Dorothy Day
