In a churchyard in East Sussex there is a grave shared by two sisters. Although they had the same parents, Pattie and Catherine died almost a century apart. Catherine lived to be ninety-three. Pattie did not see her second birthday.
On the level of form, some people are blessed with good health, while others suffer physical pain or handicaps or have their lives cut short by disease. In our life situations, some are blessed with loving family relationships, satisfying work and material comforts. For others, life is a more or less constant struggle. Perhaps we lost our parents at an early age; perhaps we’ve experienced the loss of people we love. We may even lack the most basic needs: clean water, food and shelter.
One thing we all have in common is that, whether after two years or a hundred and two, we will all die. However happy or sad our lives might be, they will be over in a cosmic instant, and our bodies will return to dust.
To me, this cannot be the whole story. If we were only our bodies, God would have plenty to answer for. We say that “God is love” (1 John 4:8), but how would it be loving to create us, let us suffer awhile and then watch us die? My heart and my head both tell me this cannot be so.
If there is divine spirit in everyone, then the Good News is that there is part of us which cannot die, which is eternally safe, and which no harm can ever befall.
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Let us return to the analogy I used at the start of this book. You are standing on the shore of the ocean. You take a glass and you dip it in the waves and fill it with water. Then you take a fine china cup, and fill that too. Another person fills an old mug with a broken handle in the same way. Someone standing on the opposite shore fills a plastic bottle from the waves that are breaking on that distant coast.
Glass, cup, mug, bottle: all appear very different. One is attractive, another chipped. One is tall and slender, another stout. But the water they contain – the divine essence within them – is the same.
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Intellectual belief in God in everyone counts for nothing if we still make idols out of forms, judging people by their appearance, or the roles they play, or on how they behave. We need to try to see beyond the surface differences to the shared Source – the divine essence – that is in everyone.
Equality is not only about equal opportunities; about overcoming prejudice in its most obvious forms: racism, sexism, homophobia... A commitment to equality means not pre-judging anyone. It means treating everyone with equal respect, recognising that we are all children of God. As our Father and Mother, God does not have favourites. She created us all in Her image and no one is any less holy than anyone else.
If we truly saw beyond the veil of form and recognized each person for Who they are, from that changed perception would flow an unswerving resolve to treat all people – all life – with reverence.
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When asked which commandment was the greatest, Jesus is said to have replied, “‘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 neighbour as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:37-39.) Notice that the two commandments – I prefer to call them advices – are like one another. So much are they alike that in essence they are the same. We cannot demonstrate our love of God other than by loving our neighbour. Who is our neighbour? Whoever is with us or in our awareness at any point in time.
For as long as we identify ourselves as solely our bodies, we will perceive ourselves as separate from, and different to, one another. While we perceive ourselves as separate and different, the suggestion that we love our neighbour as ourselves might appear fanciful. However, when we recognize that of God which is both in us and in our neighbour, we may begin to appreciate that what unites us is greater than the surface differences. If we all have God within us, then we are all part of God. In a sense, our neighbour is our Self. What we do (or don’t do) for our sisters and brothers, we do (or don’t do) for the Christ-Self in them – which is indistinguishable from the Christ-Self in ourselves.
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To love our neighbour authentically, we must first learn to love ourselves. Not in a conceited or self-indulgent way, but in a way that cherishes that of God within us. Loving myself may mean setting aside time to do those things that make me come alive. It may mean taking more care of my health; minding what foods I eat. It will probably mean letting go of pre-conceived notions of what is best for me, stepping back and letting God’s Spirit lead the way. Certainly we will make mistakes. We have all ‘sinned’ – which means simply that we have failed to act with love. But our failings and shortcomings do not detract from or change in any way the essence of Who we are. And, since that essence is divine, we are all of us worthy of love.
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If we truly believe in equality, we will prize others’ happiness as equal to our own. We will not serve our own selfish interests while our brothers and sisters starve.
It is a tall order. How many of us are ready to sell our possessions and give to the poor (Matthew 19:21)? But we can listen to the still small voice within us and let it guide us in how we might serve. Perhaps it will lead us towards a sense of little ways in which we can act with love. If there are only two packets of my favourite biscuits left on the supermarket shelf, do I need to buy both? Or can I content myself with one packet today, so there is still one left for someone else? If I treat myself to a luxury item – something I don’t strictly need – am I willing to donate an equal amount of money to charity, to help those whose need is greater?
We are not asked to sacrifice our own happiness in the service of others. Pause for a minute. Think of spontaneous acts of kindness you have given without thought or expectation of return: kind words, acts of generosity, help you have provided to a friend in need. Recall how you felt immediately afterwards. If we give grudgingly or with resentment, that is not love. To share God’s Love – to be a channel through which It flows into the world – is not a duty, but a joy.
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We all have that of God in us – and in that lies our essential equality. Of course we may be living our lives at different levels of awareness. Some of us may be in touch, more of the time, with who we truly are. Jesus, for example, had no doubt he was more than his body: “I am the light that is over all. I am the All. The All has come from me and unfolds toward me. Split a log; I am there. Lift the stone, and you will find me there.” [3]
But the divine essence is not only in Jesus, nor only in people like Ghandi and Mother Theresa, but also in Hitler and Stalin. The difference is in the fullness of our humanity: the degree to which we are ruled by our ego or separated self, or let ourselves be guided by the Spirit. The divine seed, or potential, is there in all of us. If Hitler had experienced pure unconditional love as a child, would he have turned out as he did?
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On the level of personality and of form, there will be people who I like and people I may be less keen on. Can I treat them fairly? Am I willing to hold them all in the Light, and to try again and again to see the same Light in them all, however difficult it may be to discern? As Abraham Lincoln said, “I don’t like that man. I must get to know him better”.
Equality does not mean sameness. We can love without exclusion, but that love – always accepting, always unconditional – can be shown in different ways. I may love my spouse or my partner. But if they are involved in a disagreement with someone, can I remain present enough to treat the person they disagree with kindly and fairly as well?
We don’t all share the same talents and abilities. As such, it is likely that we will be called to serve in different ways. Some may be able to give more time, others more money. Some may have a gift of listening, or of smiling at strangers and making someone’s day through that simple act of sharing. What matters is not what we do, or how much, or to whom we give. What matters is that we let our lives be guided by Love. As the Gospel of Matthew reminds us (25:37-40), whoever we give to, whoever we serve, there is ultimately only one recipient. And there is only one Source of the love that we share.
• If there is that of God within us, then in a sense our body is a temple (1 Corinthians 6:19). Consider the care you take of yourself. In what ways are you treating yourself lovingly? In what ways are you perhaps not doing so? What small steps might you take to honour the divine within you?
• We might treat people equally regardless of their race, gender, sexual orientation or belief. But perhaps our prejudices may be more subtle? Think of the encounters you have had with people in the last week – at work, while out shopping or travelling around. Think also about current events in the world. Are there less obvious ways in which you might be judging other people? When we’re judging someone, can we truthfully claim to be treating them with love?
• Reflect on your interactions with people: managers and more junior staff at work; children and older people; the policeman and the dustman and the supermarket cashier. How do you relate to them? Do you treat them with equal kindness and respect, or is your behaviour influenced by the role they happen to be playing?
• Now look at yourself in different situations. Consider your home and social life, any faith community you may belong to, and any paid or voluntary work you do. In which situations do you find it easier or harder to respond to people with love and kindness? Why might this be?
• Jesus challenged us to love our neighbour as our Self; to do to others as we would have them do to us. This ‘golden rule’ is mirrored in the scriptures of all the major religions. How might you respond to this call? What steps can you take to turn it from an idea into a reality?