The following meditation comes from an Episcopal publication Day by Day dated July 26, 2010. The meditation was originally printed in 1941. As the back cover of the current issue of the (printed) magazine explains, "… To commemorate the 75th Anniversary … Forward Movement is reproducing timeless and inspiring meditations from past issues." The choice of the word timeless is indeed (sadly) accurate. The three "fundamental objectives" have not been achieved today 65 years after these words were originally written. We still have our work cut out for us.
Forward Day By Day
MONDAY, July 26 Saint James (tr)
Matthew 20:20-28.
You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave.
If Christianity is to win the world, Christians must unite upon certain fundamental objectives and seek to discover practical means for their attainment.
One is the elimination of war.
A second is a social order which gives to able and competent human beings the opportunity to work and earn a living wage.
A third is the elimination of the selfish exploitation by the strong of the weaker members of society.
Not only must we make Christianity more vital and telling by strengthening our own faith and by translating our faith into action, but also each separate individual follower of Christ must learn to live in closer comradeship with him. This will mean assuming the form of servant, letting go of our own prerogatives and claims. Our love of Christ makes this possible. It is only as we come to know and love Christ passionately that we can through our lives make his spirit irradiate this dark world. (1941)
This and other meditations may be found at: http://forwardmovement.org/
An excellent book that explores the issues raised by the above meditation is Jesus:Uncovering the Life, Teachings, and Relevance of a Religious Revolutionary by Marcus J. Borg.
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