Mtr Taylor Devine

Dear Friends,

Mathew’s 7th Chapter contains something like the greatest hits of Jesus’ parables! ‘In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.’ is the final line of today’s section for our morning Office. It stands out to me for two reasons - the prayers at the beginning of the Rite 1 Service echo it, and because the language is a bit unusual for our ears. This is the law and the prophets. How we treat one another is the prophets, is the law. An unusual phrasing, right?

The Rite 1 language says:
Hear what our Lord Jesus Christ saith:
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with
all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great
commandment. And the second is like unto it: Thou shalt
love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments
hang all the Law and the Prophets.

I hope that you have felt what it feels like when someone treats you like they would like to be treated. I think sometimes you can tell - when generosity prevails, when someone goes out of their way, when they let their gifts truly bless others - sometimes you get lucky and can feel what this kind of care can do. It can help you to return to yourself, to remember your belovedness, and to then perhaps try to let your own gifts and care form other’s hearts for love as well. It’s a beautiful thing - the stuff of commercials where chains of kindness add up, but better.

Sometimes this is just natural, but most of us have to practice. Weekly with the Beloved in the Desert community a communal checkin is facilitated as a part of “Chapter,” the community’s official community meeting. We talk about ways we loved God with our heart, mind, and soul, and about the ways we fell short. The hope is that this pattern of reflection helps the corps members to grow in their ability to reflect, to take these things to prayer, to receive the support of others on their journey, and to continually recognize that these things are linked - heart, soul, and mind. As the third cohort of Beloveds ends there year this week I ask your prayers for them and for people at life’s transition moments, where you assess “Where is God in this?” “Where is my heart in this?” “How do I honor God with all of this, in its complexity?” along with “Where is the packing paper and tape?” Whatever moment we’re in in life God calls us to love God and Neighbor, this is the law and the prophets - this is reality, this is who we are made to be, mind, heart, soul. May you know forgiveness when you miss the mark, and courage to try to share that boundless love.

In Christ,

Mtr Taylor