Peace, Love, and Understanding

"Compassion can be roughly defined in terms of a state of mind that is nonviolent, nonharming, and nonagressive. It is a mental attitude based on the wish for others to be free of their suffering and is associated with a sense of commitment, responsibility, and respect toward the other." ~The Dalai Lama

"Love your neighbor as yourself... love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you... whenever you did it for the least of these my brothers, you did it for me..." ~Jesus Christ

I wish all of my liberal friends (especially atheists, agnostics, Buddhists and members of other faiths) knew Jesus personally, because He is not just another prophet, and He's obviously misrepresented too often by His supposed followers. He is a loving and living God who sacrificed everything so that we could be in relationship with Him eternally. His grace is inconceivably incomparable.

Meanwhile, I wish my conservative friends (especially all the Christians) knew Jesus more personally, because He is not just a savior and God, He is also a teacher and exemplar who's core practice is in fact compassion and unconditional love for others.

Compassion. What a family value, right? Not rugged-individualism, personal responsibility, personal property, smaller-government, or promoting "American-style democracy" around the world, deregulation, protecting our borders, or tax-cuts for the rich.

Do you think it's possible that advancing God's kingdom does not entail establishing Evangelical Protestantism as America's official state religion, legislating morality, or preparing the the geopolitical world for Christ's second coming through some celestial star-gate at some geographical location? Is it possible, that kingdom living is more about seeking to make our character more like Jesus and doing the kinds of things He did?

Would He rather we acquire control of society economically, politically, and culturally? Or would He rather we produce spiritual fruit like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control?

Seems to me that when we surrender our agendas to Him, empty ourselves of self and ask Him to fill us with Himself instead, we will be closer to achieving a sort of Christian Zen- and that would make "compassionate conservativism" a revolutionary concept, and not just a campaign ploy from 10 years ago that everyone has long forgotten.