Paul presents the discussion of divisions in the church over things like food and Jewish dietary rules that were quite different from Roman customs. He used words like “weak” and “strong.” As an act of love, the stronger person is to not hurt the faith of the weaker by honoring the weaker’s diet. Of course we all consider ourselves on the right side of the coin and the strong person and so the advice to honor the weaker person in the name of love, has in my experience been cloaked in submission language. “If you love you, you would do it my way!” My will struggles and my ability to trust God are confronted when disagreements arise and especially if I feel I am being manipulated with the love word. “It’s complicated!” might be how we respond to this discussion today.
I took a break and went from writing and went to get a glass of water. On the windowsill was my calendar with poems for days of the year. I had not turned the pages since August 2! I turned to today, August 30, and found this poem that was written when we had great conflict in the American church over slavery – an equally divisive topic.
John Greenleaf Whittier was “known as The Quaker Poet, The Slave Poet and The Fireside Poet” according to the Internet. He wrote from the time he was a child until the close of his life in 1892 and was considered one of the most influential writers, poets, for a decade in the fight for the abolition of slavery. He came from a poor family and could only afford to go to school 12 weeks a year. Wow. May I share this poem from over a century ago, written in the midst of that conflict. Bless you as it blessed me.
“If there be some weaker one,
Give me strength to help him on;
If a blinder soul there be,
Let me guide him nearer Thee;
Make my mortal dreams come true
With the work I fain would do;
Clothe with life the weak intent,
Let me be the thing I meant;
Let me find in Thy employ,
Peace that dearer is than joy;
Out of self to love be led,
And to heaven acclimated
Until all things sweet and good
Seem my natural habitude.”
Whittier.
On the Way to Wonder 