COMPASSION IS THE VITAL CORE of Christianity.

All Are Beloved Today’s Reflection COMPASSION IS THE VITAL CORE of Christianity. Jesus summed up all of his teachings with the commandment to love God with our entire being, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Tragically, however, we are rarely encouraged to extend compassion to ourselves. In fact, it has often been downright discouraged. . . . And yet, Jesus’ invitation is to love our neighbors as ourselves, not instead of ourselves. The care, good will, and delight we extend to ourselves should be the measure of that which we offer to others. We do not love ourselves well. Self-denigration, self-loathing, and chronic self-critique are epidemic. … Self-denigration violates the teachings of Jesus. Jesus sought to restore personhood, not diminish it. … In the eyes of the God Jesus knew, we are all sons and daughters of the divine, we are all beloved, and we are all held in the sacred radiance that delights in our beauty and giftedness. – Weavings, Nov/December 2015/January 2016