Faith: Be the bridge of love toward the stranger

My first commercial recording contained lyrics that read, “Love is a thing that you need now; Love if you want to succeed now.”

Nice rhyme right? But how would you define love? How would you define success?

In my faith tradition, extending selfless love to outsiders is considered the pinnacle of success. That is because Jesus said, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”

Yes, that is a pretty high standard, and living it out is beyond difficult. Many people today believe that the concept of selfless love is essentially unrealistic, or at least impractical. Our post-pandemic reality makes the prospect of loving others with arms wide open seem even more daunting.

However, my church, Bridging Austin, enthusiastically takes up the challenge. Our idea of Christian commitment revolves around human rights, equality and freedom.

Have you ever thought about what it means to be human and to have rights? A quote from my latest book, "Border Dance," provides a perfect illustration regarding basic human rights. It reads, “What does dance give you? The freedom to be who you are and do what you want to do.”

I often repeat those sentences to myself, only replacing dance with human rights. This exercise helps me reflect on what I believe about human freedom and why.

The Christian scriptures describe the heavenly celebration as a place “where a vast crowd from every nation, tribe and people are present.” A celebration that includes everyone is the dance of love. This passage also suggests that equality and diversity are inherent in the Christian concept of humanity.

Sadly, many view diversity as a hurdle, if not a problem. I address why this dilemma exists in "Border Dance," albeit in an English context: “most religious people in Britain understood their station in life, people were expected to honor and obey the King . . . to order myself lowly and reverently to all my betters.”

Betters? In the dance of love there are no betters — there is only the pursuit of radical equality.

My faith requires me to love everyone I meet simply because they are my neighbors on this planet, regardless of any other consideration. This means I am to look out for those who are often overlooked, have compassion for everyone in need and desire happiness for others, including the stranger.

In our faith community, we believe that immigrants and those living in poverty are not strangers, but rather neighbors with names and stories we are yet to learn. A 13th century rabbi named Asher Yehiel once said, “raise not your hand against a neighbor . . . never be weary of making friends, consider every single enemy as one too many.”

The type of love we aspire to at Bridging Austin seeks to turn enemies into friends. Here is why:

To God, no one is a stranger. The mere fact that a person exists means they are automatically deserving of dignity and entitled to respect.

One of Interfaith Action of Central Texas' mission is that to provide a welcoming atmosphere for the latest group of strangers to grace American soil. A bridge exists to connect people separated from each other. IACT connects people in need with those who desire to give. For this reason, IACT’s mission and Bridging Austin’s mission are simpatico.

Finally, in these extraordinarily divided times, it is my hope that something I have said inspires you to join me, Bridging Austin, and IACT in doing good together through the dance of love.

Jimi Calhoun is an author, a pastor and an internationally recognized recording artist. Doing Good Together is compiled by Interfaith Action of Central Texas, interfaithtexas.org.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Faith: Be the bridge of love toward the stranger