Compassion, community must be goal

God says love our neighbor

On July 1, the Episcopal Church calendar commemorates Pauli Murray, a rock star in my book of saints. Murray was a civil rights activist, women’s rights activist, lawyer, author, and priest — the first Black woman Episcopal priest and among the first group of women ordained in the Episcopal Church. Murray knew something of what it meant to keep moving forward toward a vision that was not yet realized. Having something of a divine imagination must have fueled Murray. I look forward to reading more about this saint and watching the documentary “My Name is Pauli Murray,” available on Amazon Prime.

The accolades given to Murray as a civil rights leader by Thurgood Marshall and the praise given by Ruth Bader Ginsberg are even more poignant in this moment. So much good work has been done, and now so much of the good work is being undone. We pray for the dearly departed to rest in peace, but reading Murray’s biography, hearing those words, I don’t imagine peace or rest in this time. Murray’s work was grounded in dedication to respecting the dignity of all persons. How does what is happening today reflect respect for all?

Christians are commanded, according to the New Testament, to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. In practice, this looks like leaving judgment to God alone and treating others as we wish to be treated. It looks like advocating for the rights of others and ourselves to exist in peace, for the care of Creation, for the well-being of all. Even if someone doesn’t fundamentally believe in God or understand God the way I do, I want assured for them well-being and sustainability as much as for my friends, family and community. I believe that’s what coexistence is, but it’s not all.

Pauli Murray and others with the gift of divine imagination see beyond tolerant coexistence and glimpse Beloved Community. In Beloved Community, we recognize our siblinghood, our relationship with one another intimately tied to a common good, bound up in compassion, true care for one another, whether you are my neighbor whom I like or someone whom I do not understand at all. True compassion means that your suffering is my suffering, and there is no peace for any of us until your suffering is relieved.

Right now, many are suffering needlessly. Instead of progressing toward Beloved Community — even in the minute ways we’re bending the arc toward justice for all — we are regressing, if not isolating ourselves from one another. Whether recognized in the church calendars or not, people like Murray and all the other people we know and love who have dedicated their lives to advocacy for love of others have all shown us that there is a way forward if we have the courage to do what needs to be done. It takes courage to love. It takes effort to vote with love of neighbor in mind. It takes courage to live a life that gives glory to God and respects the free will and love that has so generously been given to us all. May we be of good courage and hold fast to that which is good, for the love of all.