Abundantly

 . . . that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

 - From John 10

I get into some trouble with people, because I do not agree, instantly and convincingly, in their unkind characterizations of the political opposition. Nobody likes to be insulted, or offended. It can hurt you in a physical sense. We resist that kind of pain. We strike back aggressively, in hopes that we are not hurt again.

And when a political figure is insulted, and one of her supporters is nearby, I know that the supporter takes the insult personally. You might as well be saying the same thing about the supporter. And in a very real sense, you are. Maybe I empathize more than most - - - we all have unique talents - - - but very often I can feel that pain myself, when political discussions turn nasty. And more than the average, I feel it personally, no matter who is being attacked.

This is why Jesus said not to take insults personally. They are actually targeted at Him, not you. And going a little deeper . . . maybe every insult is actually targeted at some other person, or experience, or thing, not present. We just like to put a face on our pain . . . we're actually hoping the other person will feel it like we do, therefore we insult.

But there's another problem that I have noticed, when it comes to taking a higher road in political discussions, and it is this: Good people, smart people, say the same things about the opposition and it's leaders.

Did that point get through?

People are saying the same things about each other. Good people are calling other people all kinds of horrible names. Smart people are ascribing the same bad qualities to other smart people!

Maybe we all just need to step back and think this through.

In the Era of Covid . . . how can we tell which expert to listen to? Are all scientists more trustworthy than our spiritual leaders? Are purveyors of "facts" more reliable source than our own understanding of universal values and principles? Should we even take sides, or is that, itself, a bigger problem than a virus?

Everyone's talking about savings lives. That has become the main objective. But Jesus talked about saving our lives . . . but He said we would have life "more abundantly." What does that mean? Isn't "life" enough?

It probably isn't, if you live in pain. If you have struggled with loneliness your entire life . . . maybe it is not something you want preserved. If I can't sit at the bedside of my dying parent, loved one, or friend, sans a punch of "PPE," but as my true, genuine, unvarnished self . . . in what way is that "life"?

I'm hitting 60 years of age this year. I am aware of the passage of time . . . and two months cooped up in the house is a very, very long time. It is precious time. My life is spared, but am I living?

Abundant life has an eternal component. And the person that is convinced he will live forever looks at pandemics in quite another way. But the abundant life also focuses on the present: this very moment. It's on the here and now. It's the immediate situation . . . and people in that situation are caring for others . . . not themselves. And they are not worried about tomorrow. They know that good deeds done today just ripple outward into the future.

A good way to separate the reliable voices from the narrow, inwardly-focused voices coming at us, is - - - which person seems to have that understanding of abundant life? If he or she seems to get that we must live to the fullest, now, while having an eternal sense . . . then perhaps that is the voice of calm, reason, and even Science, that should prevail.