Daily Lesson for July 18, 2016

Today's Daily Lesson comes from Romans chapter 13 verses 8 through 10:

8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Mother Teresa once diagnosed the world's ills: "If we have no peace, it's because we've forgotten we belong to each other."

Now is a time for remembering that we belong together:

-- for remembering that we're neighbors

-- for remembering that we're friends

-- for remembering that we're brothers and sisters and all children of the same Heavenly Father

Both Jesus and St Paul each summed up the law with the command to love neighbor as we love ourselves. That means to wish the best for our neighbor, to look out for our neighbor, to walk the extra mile with our neighbor, and never ever seek to wrong or harm our neighbor -- nor tolerate those who do.  Neighbors don't tolerate the violence against people who belong to them.

All those who have lost their lives in recent weeks belonged to us. These were our sons and our brothers. And it was our mothers and our sisters kissed who kissed them on the head at the door as they left and fretted over them when they they didn't call or text.  Black or Blue, White or Brown, that is true for every family; it's true for our country's family.

"Who is my neighbor?" the lawyer asked Jesus. And his response was the Samaritan -- the man of another race and ethnicity.  He was the neighbor because he was the one who crossed the tracks to act with care and compassion. He was the neighbor and in being a good neighbor he became even a brother.

We should go and do likewise.

We belong to each other. We are neighbors. God longs for us to be sisters and brothers. When we remember this we shall have.

"And blessed are the peacemakers."