(A reflection on Chapter 5, Jesus and the Disinherited, by Howard Thurman)
Our journey as spiritual beings seeking to embody the revolutionary love-ethic taught by Jesus has been one of profound struggle and growth. Like many, we initially understood loving our neighbors and enemies through a very narrow lens – extending compassion only to those closest to us, those who were familiar and “deserving” in our minds. But Jesus’s teachings have challenged us to expand our circle of love and understanding immensely.
We have had to confront the ways we have categorized and dehumanized those different from us – whether due to religious, ethnic, economic or social differences. Just as Jesus loved the tax collectors and Roman rulers who were seen as oppressors and betrayers by his own community, we too have been called to pull back the veil of prejudices and flawed generalizations that allowed us to reduce others to a status of “enemy.”
It has been immensely difficult to move beyond viewing people through the lens of their group identities, affiliations and past actions against “our” side. But we have learned that this is prerequisite for real love and communion. As long as we cling to labels that diminish the essential humanity we share, we cannot truly love. We must look through the “enemy” status, as flawed as we all are, to see the human spirits worthy of ultimate dignity and care.
In our own lives and in the world around us, we have witnessed how dehumanization and alienation breed hatred, retaliation and violence in a cyclical way. We have had to confront the insidious resentment we felt towards those we perceived as inflicting gratuitous injuries and insults on us due to our social position or identity group. The path of forgiveness that Jesus exemplified has been exceedingly challenging.
How can we absolve those who denigrated our humanity not based on any particular wrong we committed, but simply because of who we are? And yet, in not forgiving, we risk being consumed by corrosive bitterness. We have tried to embrace Jesus’s wisdom – that no evil deed, however heinous, represents the total essence of the human behind it. We have tried to internalize that moral justice does come, perhaps not in the ways we’d prefer, but through the consequences that find every violator of love.
More than intellectual concepts, forgiveness and seeing the human possibility in each person has required a profoundly spiritual practice. It has meant looking inward, understanding the irrationality, pride and ego that too often dominate all our actions. It has meant intentionally cultivating humility, seeing ourselves as shared travelers on the journey towards higher consciousness. When we can transform our perspective inward first, it becomes easier to extend that charitable lens to others as well.
In doing this work, we have come to respect the universality of the Spirit that Jesus embodied. This is a Spirit beyond any religion, culture, language or temporal identity. It is the seed of love, courage and possibility that connects every human soul in our shared mission to evolve. We have seen this Spirit alive when moments of crisis and trauma have stripped away the superficial divisions between us. In those raw instances of shared vulnerability, we have been united by our core humanity.
So while the world we inhabit remains marred by fear, oppression, and alienation, we hold faith in this uniting Spirit. We believe that with disciplined commitment to embodying this Spirit of love and dignity for all humanity, we can overcome even the starkest contradictions of our current existence. We aim to be revolutionaries like Jesus – extending radical love and seeing the highest potential for goodness in each person we encounter, no matter their background or their treatment of us.
This is immensely difficult work, pushing against the inertia of generations of hatred, domination, and segregation. But we have glimpsed what it looks like to shatter those legacies, to forgive ancestral wounds, and to stubbornly create spaces of common fellowship and caring. In those moments, we experience being truly free – free of the binds of tribalism and supremacy, free to see each other’s full human souls. It is a freedom that allows us to transcend despairing over the world’s current state and instead lock arms with the eternal Spirit that arcs towards healing and love.
So we press on in this struggle, to love ourselves and all others more completely. We aim to continually increase our capacity for empathy, humility and magnanimity in the face of hostility. For only in doing so can we unlock our own human potential and help co-create the Beloved Community that has been a longing since the dawn of human conscience. We do this not just for our own souls, but so that those who follow may inherit a world closer to the harmonious vision that the revolutionary ethic of love promises. Crucible upon crucible, we strive on in faith that love’s power is ultimately redemptive.
Summary
The religion of Jesus makes the love-ethic central, teaching to love one’s neighbor and even one’s enemy. Jesus demonstrated this by loving those who opposed him from his own community, marginalized groups like tax collectors, and the ruling Roman oppressors. To love one’s enemy requires breaking down the “enemy” status by fostering mutual understanding and reverence for the other’s humanity across social barriers. In casual encounters, seeing others as they could become, not just as they are, helps overcome prejudices. For the underprivileged, forgiveness is crucial to overcome resentment from gratuitous injuries suffered due to their status, not actions – recognizing the irrationality in evil deeds, that no deed represents the full person, and that moral laws bring consequences. The disinherited must understand the roots of fear, hatred, and deception to overcome them through dedication to a higher, universal Spirit working towards justice. With discipline and the right spirit, even amidst chaos, one can live effectively as children of God, overcoming the world’s contradictions. The central theme is Jesus’ revolutionary love-ethic challenging conventional enmities and advocating profound respect for human personality to overcome societal divides.
Key Points
1. Jesus taught the central principle of love-ethic, emphasizing loving one’s neighbor and even one’s enemy.
2. Jesus demonstrated love towards different kinds of “enemies” – those from his own community who opposed him, the marginalized groups like tax collectors, and the oppressive ruling class like the Romans.
3. Loving one’s enemy requires breaking down the “enemy” status by fostering mutual human understanding and respect across social barriers.
4. In casual encounters, an attitude of reverence for the other’s humanity, seeing them as they could become, not just as they are, helps overcome prejudices.
5. For the underprivileged, forgiveness is crucial to overcome resentment from gratuitous injuries suffered due to their status, not actions.
6. Forgiveness recognizes the irrationality in evil deeds, that no deed represents the full person, and that moral laws bring consequences.
7. The disinherited must understand the roots of fear, hatred, and deception to overcome them through dedication to a higher universal Spirit working towards justice.
8. With discipline and the right spirit, even amidst chaos, one can live effectively as children of God, overcoming the world’s contradictions.
The central theme is Jesus’ revolutionary love-ethic that challenged conventional enmities and advocated a profound respect for human personality to overcome societal divides.
