Thursday, March 01, 2007

Loving Your Neighbor...

"Christians have to find a way--a lens--if you will,
through which to interpret this body of text [the Bible] on which our faith is founded....
My lens--and in this I am not alone--is the two great commandments.


You must love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your soul, and you must love your neighbor as yourself.


YOU MUST LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.






And I don't see the word "straight" in there anywhere."

--The Reverend Lily Conner, Episcopal priest, in the mystery novel by Michelle Blake, "The Book of Light", page 41, published in 2003--

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Why does it take a fictional character to explain the obvious about scripture?
Photographic images courtesy of Google Images.

6 comments:

June Butler said...

My lens? I would have said the Gospels. Then I would have narrowed it to:

1. The Two Great Commandments

2. The Beatitudes.

Anonymous said...

I've enjoyed those mystery novels. She and Julia Spencer-Fleming do a good job of infusing their mysteries with spiritual wisdom. Thanks for the post.

Catherine said...

I second that "Amen!" Kirstin; thanks for dropping by.

GM, thanks for your input and view; always appreciated.

Morgan, thanks. I have read both series and really enjoyed them. We need more Episcopal heroines in fiction! Got any? :-)

Dennis said...

Perhaps by putting it into fiction it will reach far more people, and reach deeper into their lives, than any sermon.

Good post. great use of images to illustrate it.

episcopalifem said...

Catherine+ - Love it.

Fiction comes from truth, ultimately. And, authors are in total control of how that truth gets showcased.

Saint Pat said...

Amen, amen!

It isn't so hard a concept to understand. Can someone explain it to the Network bishops and the Global South bishops?