WEDNESDAY, January 27 (John Chrysostom)

John 5:19-29. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

You can't honor the Father if you don't honor the Son. You can't say, "I love God," and then not do what the Son commanded you to do, to love God and love your neighbors.

It is hard to figure out here how to honor the Son when hatred pervades the land. How can we love our neighbors when they are attacking us, stealing from us, hurting us, killing us? But if we don't love them--if we don't figure out a way to overcome the hatred that seems ingrained in our lives--how can we love God?

The Son is not honored when we say, "Oh, yes, we love the Lord, but not that creep down the street." The Father is not honored when we turn our backs on what the Son teaches just because our community tells us it is OK to hate, to hurt, to kill.

Everything here comes down to us vs. them. Race, ethnicity, language, tribe, religion, and gender separate us. But in God's very good creation, there are no separations, no divisions. The only way to honor the Father is to live out, as fully as possible, the Son's command to us: Love God. Love your neighbor.

PRAY for the Diocese of Argentina (Iglesia Anglicana del Cono Sur de America)

Ps 119:49-72 * 49 [53]; Genesis 16:1-14; Hebrews 9:15-28

View the daily Lectionary Readings at Satucket.com.
Or view the Bible passages at Biblegateway.com.

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Jan 27, 2010 at 9:00 am

Written by Kevin T,

It is very hard to show love and compassion in these times but I believe if we can remove the "blinders" (referring to racism, sexism and etc) from our eyes only then will we begin to understand the true Love that comes from God and is shown to us through Jesus' works on Earth. From this we can love our neighbors as ourselves

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Jan 27, 2010 at 9:15 am

Written by Marco of San Francisco,

While I agree with the words of the writer and those of the writer of the first comment, let us not forget the daily hatred by many, world wide, especially in this country,of those with a sexual orientation that may differ from our own, or what society may call the "norm". To love, as I think God wants us to love, is truly to love all of God's people.

Ditto to all meditation and all the comments above

Jan 27, 2010 at 9:26 am

Written by JuliaB,

I believe one big step toward loving our neighbor as the Son commanded is truly recognizing that we are ALL God's children regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, religion, political stripe etc. None of us is getting to Heaven any faster than any one of our sisters or brothers. When I look at my neighbor I must remember that I'm seeing myself and more importantly I'm seeing God. Love is the answer. Humility is a close second.

author and missionary

Jan 27, 2010 at 10:47 am

Written by Lauren Stanley,

Please, I want to reiterate: When I say we are ALL God's beloved children, we are. Pure and simple. There are no us's and them's. I know there is hatred in the world. But I don't want to fall into that hatred -- ever.

New Update from Author on Haiti

Jan 27, 2010 at 11:35 am

Written by Brad Turner - Webmaster,

Our January author has submitted a new reflection on the situation in Haiti which you can read here: http://forwardmovement.org/jan...pdate.html

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