love, really

 

Last Thursday morning, a group of my students grabbed a stack of handwritten signs and stood out in the plaza as their peers hurried to their 9:30 classes.  They stood there, smiling, and holding signs that read “I love you”.  

I watched as students we didn’t know walked by.  Some paid no attention at all.  Some looked and called out “I love you too!” as they moved on.  Many others read the signs, tried to hold back a smile and continued walking.  

This has been on my mind for many reasons.  In the last few weeks, I’ve written several potential blog posts that have been fueled or at least inspired by the nonsense going on in our political and quasi-religious landscape.  Those writings have just been sitting around on my computer and the longer they sit, the less likely I am to post them publicly.  I hate politics and I don’t want to be one of those internet naggers whose posts you skip because you know they’ll leave you feeling more rage and unrest in an already stressful day.  But, dude, there’s something in this that just won’t leave my brain.  I may end up posting this one.

Those students stood there on Thursday with numb fingers from the cold and declared to every human that walked by that they were loved.  They didn’t just say they loved the art majors or the white people.  They didn’t just say they loved the ones who believed what they believed or used the old fashioned pronouns.  They stood there and said that they loved everyone.  

You know who’s not doing that these days?  Christians.  Ok, I’ll be nice and use quotation marks.  “Christians”.  There’s at least a large number of “Christians” who are supportive of declarations, votes and initiatives that treat other humans unfairly.  Pick your favorite one, there are some that single out trans people, some that single out the handicapped, some that single out non-white people, some that single out women and some that single out just about any group of non-male, non-straight, non-white people.  Pick an executive order.  Pick a hot-button topic.  Yes, this is politics on the surface, you’re right.  I understand that political parties will pick these “issues” to defend or deny and sadly, I’ve grown to expect as much.  My problem begins when “Christians” get involved.  

“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 22:37-40

I’ve seen Bible references used for all sorts of things, usually completely out of context and with no regard for the culture in which they were written.  But this one, spoken from the mouth of Jesus, seems to often be overlooked, along with the numerous other verses about loving others.  How we love other humans is directly tied to how we love God.  That’s not an interpretation of the quote, that’s what it says.  Everything else in our lives depends on love.  That’s what it says.  

If you call yourself a “Christian” then you believe  in the Imago Dei.  Your church doctrine says that you believe that humans were created in the image of God.  If you actually believe that humans were created in the image of God, you would never be ok with humans being treated unfairly and without love, respect and honor.  You would not be able to support taking away free meals from students to save money.  You would not be able to support non-citizens from being shackled and put on planes to send them back to countries where their lives are in danger.  You would not be able to support laws that say humans don’t get to decide what happens to their own bodies.  If you believed in God, you would believe in love for everyone who walked by.  You would want all humans to be treated with the same love, kindness and respect.  

If your religion believes in tough love, conditional love and people needing to qualify to be loved, it is not Christianity.  Your religion is probably Capitalism and it will turn on you just as quickly as it turned on others.   

Oh, you came here for the art stuff?  Well, this is actually it.  Every work of art I create contains messages to help the people who see it.  Not certain people with an MFA or just the people who go into galleries.  It has always been important to me to create art for everyone at every level.  This is why public sculpture and murals are so important to me.  Public art has the ability to stand in a public place and hold that sign.  It has the power to let all humans know they are loved.

I invite you into a little self-reflection.  Would you be able to hold that sign and stand in a busy plaza and mean it?  Or do you really only have love for people who are like you?  

I’ll also invite you into a conversation.  If you believe you have a sound theological reason to support the dehumanizing that has recently been espoused by our government while also honoring God, I’d love to hear it.