Day 4: Made for Lovingkindness

The sixth antiphon:

O King whom all the peoples desire, You are the cornerstone which makes all one.

O come and save us whom You made from clay.

O come, Desire of nations, bind all peoples in one heart and mind.

Bid the strife and quarrels cease.

Fill all the world with heaven’s peace.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

What if we woke up one morning and realized that we were created for lovingkindness? What if we knew in that totally immersive way of knowing that changes EVERYTHING, that every bit of strife we sow, every quarrel we engage in, is toxic to our bodies, minds and spirits?

Would we make more effort to refrain from disagreements? Would we curb our tongue and engage our helping hands? What would we do differently?

When my mother died, my brother and I came to know that we could not live and continue down a path of strife and quarrels. We gave up. We ceased our efforts to be heard and known. Our bodies felt like they were covered with third degree burns, cinged to the bone from the flames of a constant battle for love and mutual respect. He and I agreed that a raised voice was almost more than we could bear. Any raised voice. An angry voice was more hurtful than a Virginia loss to a rival team in basketball in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Yes. That bad.

There will be tough, tough decisions that will need to be made in order to cease our strife and quarrels. Relationships may need to end in the traditional way we think of them. We may need to learn to love from afar.

But love is the thing. It’s just really, really hard to know how to love at times.

God is making all one. He is saving us whom he made from clay. We do not have to save, or change, or expect things from others. But we are also given this great gift, which only we can open and use. We are given the gift of self-respect and dignity. We are not required to suffer for the wrong reasons - out of a sense of loyalty, or dependence. Where lovingkindness cannot thrive, we are given the opportunity to bid farewell to strife and quarrels.

As we anticipate the coming of Christ, consider what you might have to withdraw from in order to live in a land that is welcoming to the Lord.