Article by Mary Bea Sullivan

In her book, The Desert Mothers, Rev. Mary C. Earle quotes Amma Syncletica as saying, “Salvation is exactly this - the two-fold love of God and of our neighbor.”

Sounds familiar doesn’t it?

Many of us have heard or read Matthew 22:36-40 many times … “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and all the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Easy to read … not so easy to live.

Mary Earle contends that one of the perennial truths of the desert tradition was the scriptural description of humanity as being made “in the image and likeness of God.” (Genesis 1:26)  Maybe this is where we get hung up.  Some of the people we come across have done such a great job of covering up their image and likeness of anything good that finding a nugget of God in them is like digging for a single diamond in a 600 acre field.

But dig we must.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could only have people around us that we found easy to get along with? People who affirmed us, agreed with us, made us feel so good?  Oh, what an easy life that would be!! Not very realistic though … so …

Dig we must.

I find inspiration in Rachel Naomi Remen’s, My Grandfather’s Blessings.  Rachel Remen describes a teaching from the Kabbalah (the mystical teachings of Judaism), “… at some point in the beginning of things, the Holy was broken up into countless sparks, which were scattered throughout the universe. There is a god spark in everyone and in everything, a sort of diaspora of goodness.”

Oh, I want to mine this “god spark” and be so bold as to help others to find it in themselves.  That might be part of the answer … if we can believe in our own being created in the image and likeness of God, perhaps it would be easier to find it in others.

It always comes back to practice for me … practical reminders of staying on the path.  Try this …

Take a few moments and breathe in a prayer of gratitude the next time you are out walking.  Create an intention for your time, and then slowly place your left foot on the ground thinking or saying out loud, “Love God.”  When you intentionally place your right foot on the ground, think or say “Love Neighbor.”  As you walk, slowly repeat with each footfall, “Love God … Love Neighbor … Love God … Love Neighbor … Love God … Love Neighbor … Love God … Love Neighbor …”

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”  Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

-Matthew 22:36-40 (NIV)

Mary Bea Sullivan is the author of Dancing Naked Under the Moon - Uncovering the Wisdom Within, a compelling story about her pilgrimage toward wholeness.  She facilitates spiritual retreats and workshops for women’s groups and faith communities.  Mary Bea lives with her husband, Malcolm Marler, and their yellow (white really) lab, Daisy on Smith Lake in Alabama. For more information about Mary Bea Sullivan and her work, please visit www.MaryBeaSullivan.com.

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