October 25, 2026
Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash
Read more: Loving Those **** Neighbors
More than once, I have talked about the challenge I love and hate most from Dr. Martin Luther King. Referencing Christian scripture that talks about loving our neighbors as ourselves, MLK asks if we are capable of drawing our circles large enough to include even those who would not include us in their circles. I hate and love this question – this challenge – because it means that those of us who want to build a just and peaceful world have to find a way to simultaneously love those who do not include us (or those we love) and then also fight the systems of injustice those folks help to build and perpetuate.
I want it to be simple. I want the message to be: “Love those who love like you with all your heart.” But instead, it appears those of us who want to make the world better than it is right now have to fight with all our might the powers that mistreat and misuse our brothers and sisters of all bodies, races, abilities, and more. AND we have to still love those who mistreat and misuse. We must be allies and advocates for those who are marginalized and in solidarity with all who suffer. AND we must do so without marginalizing those who hurt others.
Please insert your favorite curse word here so I do not have to do so.
In the coming two weeks, Americans will vote. And then no matter the outcome, we must keep loving. We must love enough to protect those who are in harm’s way. And we must love enough to NOT create harm ourselves. If we want a just and loving world, we must love our neighbors as we love ourselves. And our neighbors? Well, that’s everyone, y’all.
Hard things of some kind or another are certainly ahead. But regardless of what the next few weeks hold and how the next political season unfolds, we must ask ourselves: What will we do with this one wild and precious life? In the face of fear and anger and even despair – our own and others’ – what will we do to love?
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