Most of us live dualistic lives. We believe there is a wall dividing the secular — “what’s down here” —from the sacred — “what’s up there.” We equate the secular with the mundane, nitty gritty details of our daily life: earning a living, raising a family, and doing the dishes.

For this discussion, the realm of the sacred refers to “religious” activities such as saying prayers, performing pious actions, and obeying the 10 Commandments. Such spiritual practices keep us connected with “what’s up there.”

Consequently, we measure our spiritual growth by the perceived quality of our prayer lives, our felt experiences of God, the number of scripture passages we have memorized, and the times we resisted temptation. This simplistic reduction of spiritual activities makes it easy for us to think we are maturing in the spiritual life. Yet Jesus asks for more.

Spirituality must be expressed in a person’s life; it can’t be compartmentalized.

Unlike the Pharisees, neither of Jesus’ understandings—of Sabbath keeping or dietary restrictions—was hooked to a superficial, obedience-based piety. Knowing such an emphasis on externals only scorches the surface and sparks fanaticism, not fire, Jesus pointed to the heart as the source of a person’s actions: “do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. For out of the heart comes evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile” (Matthew 5: 17-20).

Jesus’s spirituality was about developing and acting from a loving, merciful, and compassionate heart— not an obsessively obedient one.

The first letter of John tears down any wall separating the secular from the sacred by bluntly equating Jesus’ spirituality with a rebirth. In 1 John 4: 21, referring to Jesus, John says “the commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.”

Living the Golden Rule

The integration of love of God and neighbor is no more evident than in the life of Julia Greeley. Born into slavery sometime between 1833 and 1848 in Hannibal, Missouri (USA), she lost her right eye when a slave owner, while beating her mother, caught it with his whip.

Freed by the state’s emancipation act in 1865, Julia earned a living as a housekeeper and nanny to white families in Missouri, Wyoming, New Mexico, and Colorado. Baptized in 1880, she quickly developed a strong devotion to the heart of Jesus. This devotion fueled her love for the poor and firefighters. Known as Denver’s “Angel of Mercy” she was once referred to as a “one person Saint Vincent de Paul society,”

Julia, with crippling arthritis, would spend her nights pulling a little red wagon filled with clothes and food through dark alleys. She distributed these necessities to the needy. She often did her acts of charity in secret and always undercover of night, so people wouldn’t suffer the embarrassment of being helped by a black woman.

When her $10 monthly salary ran out, she would beg for the poor. She also expressed her compassion for firefighters who faced multiple dangers from poorly constructed buildings in the 19th century by traveling on foot every month to every Denver Firehouse where she delivered devotional materials.

Julia Greeley died on June 7th, 1918, and more than 1000 people attended her funeral. She merged the secular with the sacred.

A Commitment to Love

Having the mind of Christ taught in the Sermon on the Mount and responding to the current moment with Jesus’ spirituality of love—surrender, sacrifice, and service—are the definitive indications of spiritual growth.

We certainly can’t have emotional feelings of love and affection for everyone, especially the people we do not know. It’s difficult to feel fondness for those who betray us or whom we consider the enemy. But Christian love is not based on feelings and emotions. It’s an unswerving commitment to never refuse forgiveness; A firm resolve to keep our heart open to everyone regardless of race, color, or creed. It is the decision to be intentionally selfless for the sake of others: surrender, sacrifice, and service. It is the spirit of liberal and lavish hospitality that sparkles in the lives of those channeling God’s love.

Christian love is living the Golden Rule for the common good: “in everything do to others as you would have them do to you; For this is the law and the prophets” (Matthew 7: 12). As Paul reminded the Christians in Rome, “Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13: 10). He aptly advised the Corinthians, “Let all that you do be done in love” (1 Corinthians 16: 14).

Works of Mercy

Christian tradition has given birth to the practice of the works of mercy inspired by Matthew 25: 31-46. It has numbered these works as seven. Though considered literal actions, their metaphorical interpretation gives us insight into the decision to love that blazes in the spirituality of those who are listening to God’s voice.

Feeding the hungry is more than volunteering in a soup kitchen or offering a handout to those in need. It is also fostering a relationship with those forgotten, marginalized, or whose situation leaves them spiritually, emotionally, or psychologically hungry.

Giving drink to the thirsty includes the devotion and dedication that quenches the thirst of loneliness or helps dissipate the feeling of failure. It enkindles hope in the forlorn and despondent, and fans the smoldering embers of faith in the doubtful. It glows in people who work ardently for justice and peace.

Clothing the naked does not refer only to sharing old clothes with charitable organizations but includes covering with dignity those stripped by humiliation—the children and women forced to work in sweatshops or coerced into human sex trafficking.  It is working to end the use and abuse of any human beings.

Sheltering the homeless is more than building homes with Habitat for Humanity. It is the commitment to ensure everyone has a sense of belonging and a place to call home. This love is aflame in those who work with displaced immigrants and the undocumented. It treats everyone as a neighbor and no one as a stranger.

Visiting the sick demonstrates care and concern for those who are physically disabled, or unable to perform ordinary tasks, because of age, injury, or infirmity. Dedication is most evident in the kindness of nurses, doctors, health care providers, and family caregivers.

Visiting the imprisoned, by post or presence, loosens the shackles of physical, emotional, or psychological chains. This loving decision tenderly illuminates the jail cells found not only in detention centers and prisons, but also in the human heart—and is willing to accompany those imprisoned there.

Burying the dead. Most of us live in a culture that honors the deceased with dignity, ritual, and sometimes monuments. Though death may be inconvenient and disrupts our schedules and plans, we make the effort, sometimes at personal sacrifice, to attend the funerals of family and friends. Burying the dead and attending to those who are grieving (How to Best Console the Grieving) are responses to the present moment of need. Burying the dead also means leaving the past in the past. It radiates in spouses and friends who forgive each other and never allow a betrayal, or angry word to be written in indelible ink. Steeped in mercy and compassion, this flame of love illumines the path to continue a journey together.

Conclusion

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind… You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22: 37, 39-40). Real spiritual progress is measured by the size of our hearts and the relentless resolve to respond to the unmet need or required duty of the present moment. At life’s end, all that is left is the afterglow of our surrender, sacrifice, and service. Love and love alone is the lasting fruit of the spiritually maturing Christian.

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Reference

Becoming an Ordinary Mystic by Albert Haase, OFM

Image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay