Is there an integrity of the person, so intrinsic in its
value and significance that no deed, however evil, can ultimately undermine
this given thing? If a person is of infinite worth in the sight of God, whether
they are saint or sinner, whether they are a good person or a bad person, evil
or not, if that is true, then I am never relieved of my responsibility for
trying to make contact with this worthy thing in them.
Howard
Thurman, The Growing Edge (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1956), 17–18.
Note: minor
edits made for inclusive language.
___________________________________
we are
all of us
both beautiful and terrible
both good and bad
both kind and cruel
we have, all of us
done good things and bad things
we have, all of us
been worthy of love, and worthy of disdain
I have had my moments when I did
“very good things”
I have had my moments when I have been a jerk
when my kinder angels have been silent
and I have done things that have harmed
it is easy to love people when they are being
convenient
it is not as easy when they are hate-filled and illogical
when they side with cruelty
when they are racists, or fascist
it is easy to love the volunteer who helps the homeless
it is almost impossible to love the person
who totes an AR-15 into a McDonalds
or worse, into a school
there are people it would be all to easy to throw away
into the garbage heap of humanity
those who have been despicable
who have created so much harm and misery
the fascist leader
the mass shooter
the leader of the lynch mob
the drunk driver who just wiped out a life
the person who hurt us
diminished us
marginalized us
I struggle to find the spark of divinity
In such souls
That small remnant of sacred that makes them “worthy”
I would like to “ghost” them
Remove them from my life, my world
I would like to savor my disdain
And yet I realize that perhaps
to someone else
I am that person
I am the one who has hurt
Who has been cruel
Who is “wrong” and harmful
I am the heretic sinner
Who has lost their way
There is a “oneness” to humanity
All have sinned and fallen short of the glory
All
And in all there is something worthy
God sees it
I need to see it too
It is the hidden treasure
The lost coin
And it is my calling to seek until I find
that bit of “worthy” in them
just as I so desperately need for them
to find that bit of “worthy” in me
for it is in that search
that we will find oneness
and it is a task
that is never done
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