“There is a love holding me. There is a love holding all that I love. There is a love holding all, I rest in this love.
There is a love holding us. There is a love holding all that we love. There is a love holding all, we rest in this love.” -Rebecca Parker (set to music by Elizabeth Norton)
How can you rest in the love holding you?
The dominant U.S. culture justifies its addiction to mass incarceration by asking us to believe that people have forfeited their worthiness and dignity when they do something wrong (or are blamed for having done something). A culture of love asks us to open our hearts to the humanity of those imprisoned.
Can you imagine a society that is not dependent on mass incarceration? What would need to change to make it a reality?
Systems of power and oppression rely on the separation of humanity to replicate themselves. Every “us” needs a “them” to oppose and be superior to. Practicing love as the central part of our faith asks us to transcend these barriers: borders, identities, and prison walls.
How have you witnessed love transcend human-made barriers?
“We don’t always recognize it, but love shows up even more in the messy, vulnerable places. Love shows up in the form of a friend seeking forgiveness. Love shows up every time we interrupt bad oppressive comments and jokes.” -Jo VonRue, from “Love in the Complicated Places”
When have you experienced love showing up in messy, vulnerable places?
This is the time of year when many of us are trained to look at our bodies with judgment and criticism. Let us instead learn to celebrate the beautiful shapes and forms our bodies come in. Fat, thin, short, tall, disabled by societal barriers or not, whatever they are. Let us learn to love our bodies, which are as beautiful and as imperfect as we are.
How can you express love for your body today?
