Today I will resolve to love, God and my neighbor.
Both neighbors near and neighbors far.
The one I pass daily. The one that causes me to bristle.
The one far away. The one I cannot see.
The one I ignore. The one who is so different from me.
Today I will let go of what I consider “mine.”
I’ll open my hands instead of holding on tightly.
I’ll give instead of trying to protect.
Instead of saying, “Thank you, God, for all you have given me, me, me!”
I’ll say, “Here is what I have. Can I help you, you, you?”
Today I will hold my possessions loosely.
So loosely that I would rather hand them over than go to court.
So loosely that they would never be the cause of an argument.
So loosely that I would never need to worry about standing up for what is mine.
So loosely that I would never consider fighting to keep them.
Today my focus won’t be about me, my world, my country, my possessions.
It will be about letting go, open hands, the other, good for all.
Can I follow the voice of God, or will I only hear the voice of the popular?
Am I being foolish or faithful?
Today I will live the tension.
Saint Francis of Assisi:
If we owned anything, we should have to have weapons to protect ourselves. That is what gives rise to contentions and lawsuits, and so often causes the love of God and neighbor to be interfered with. For ourselves, we are resolved to possess nothing temporal in this world.
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