We are taught early to judge by comparing one another. "Why can't you be like ...?" A couple of years ago at my uncles funeral we got on the subject that southern people are different. My aunt asked me if they are worse than us northerners. My response was they are different, neither better or worse.
Too much of our faith culture teaches us that we are flawed; unredeemable sinners. God, Allah, Culture, Society, ... has limited space for accepting us. Marcus J. Borg in "The God We Never Knew" likens this image of our God as the Judge, Jury, and Executioner.
We live in fear that we have already been judged and dismissed. We attempt to move back to acceptance by comparing ourselves to others showing why we are less contemptible than them. We are being hunted by a lion and as long as we are faster the lion will destroy the other. At our core we know this is wrong and our self image degrades increasing our fear which feeds our anger and despondency. We loose sight of the beauty of our brothers and sisters when we strive to elevate ourselves, or give up.
Under all this sound and fury is the second face of God that Marcus Borg presents. A God with an infinite capacity to love and accept. We are not here to be keepers of our neighbors. We are here to serve our neighbors to help them become more than they are. Just as God tells us we are more than we believe we are.
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