John 13, 34-35
Jesus said: “I give you a new commandment—to love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. Everyone will know by this that you are my disciples—if you have love for one another.”
Reflection
Dag Hammarskjöld wrote about always treating other people’s good as the aim of one’s life and never using others as a means to one’s own ends. He said that we should let ourselves be used as a tool for “that in me that is more than me”, in other words as a tool for God. He talked about the simplicity of goodness, of always being there for others and never just for oneself.
The big picture so often confuses the small one. Without the humility and warmth you need in the relationship with every person whose life you touch, you can’t do anything for the many. Otherwise your actions will become do-gooding, things we do to make ourselves look and feel good. What is required is that what is done for others is done with overflowing love.
Love brings no profit, there is nothing to be gained in exchange. It just exists
Like the little flower on the way up to the mountain again, the small, everyday acts of self-giving love may seem to be overshadowed by bigger things. Doing great deeds “for humanity” may seem far more important than the little things we do for those we know and meet along the way. But in the small acts which are truly done out of love, we are passing on that drink with which our cup is filled anew each morning.
“Goodness is something so simple,” said Hammarskjöld, “it is always being there for others, never seeking our own good.”
Prayer
Lord, we are always so good at judging other people:
if they make a mistake, we say,
“There! I knew it all along!”
Help us to remember that you are the only fair judge.
May we always look at others
with love and forgiveness.
We thank you that you look at us with love and forgiveness,
whatever we have done or failed to do. Amen