When Julius Caesar convened a Senate session, it turned out to be his last. He had just walked into a closed room full of conspirators intent on assassinating him once their leader gave the signal. The signal was given and the Roman Senators descended on Julius Caesar and stabbed him 23 times. But before he dies, he recognizes his close friend Marcus Brutus amongst the 60 conspirators and cries, “Et tu, Brute?”

This true historical event was dramatized later in William Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar which made “Et tu, Brute?” synonymous with betrayal from a close friend. It means “Even you, Brutus?” Depicted in the 1806 painting, titled The Death of Julius Caesar, Brutus can be seen looking away from Caesar, unable to meet his gaze. Rather than defending himself, Caesar is gesturing forward and exhausting his last words to prove to Brutus that he is aware of his betrayal. Brutus, ashamed, cannot bear to lock eyes as he too stabs Caesar. Some accounts question whether Caesar spoke at all, but nonetheless, “Et tu, Brute?” is a dramatic example of unexpected betrayal that can surprisingly teach Christians a lesson.

Amongst all Christian virtues, forgiveness remains the most elusive. It is possible to express forgiveness towards my enemy, talk about how much I have forgiven my enemy, and yet in my heart remain stubbornly unforgiving. Arguably, it is the most dangerous spiritual condition to be in. It led to humanity’s first murder when Cain could not forgive Abel for offering a more worthy gift to God.^[1] Jesus, knowing the danger of this long-embedded sin in humanity teaches us that forgiveness is a necessity of the Christian walk.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus instructs us to pray verbatim, “And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us (emphasis added).”^[2] “As” means there is a precondition to receiving our forgiveness from God. It is clearly a reciprocated gift. Failure to forgive others results in rejecting the gift of forgiveness from God.

Later in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus teaches again about the necessity of reciprocated forgiveness by sharing a parable about the kingdom of heaven. A king was moved with compassion at the inability of his servant to pay back a debt. The servant had begged the king on his knees for patience and more time. Instead of more time, the king forgives the whole debt owed. But not just any debt owed – the servant owed 10,000 talents, an impossibly large sum to pay back, larger than lifetimes of earnings. Nonetheless, the king forgives the servant his debt and releases him to go free.

But later, the king learns that the very same servant whom he forgave, did not likewise forgive his own servant a debt and instead grabs him by the throat and demands repayment. Adopting a familiar position, the servant’s servant begs for more time at his feet, but to no avail. He is thrown into prison. And what was the debt the servant’s servant owed? It was 100 denarii or about three months of labor. When the king learns about his servant’s lack of reciprocated forgiveness, he angrily summons him.

“Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you? And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.”^[3]

Paying the king back of course, was impossible. Seemingly he is to remain with the torturers forever, mirroring the endless torture of Hades. Jesus ends the parable with a direct warning that leaves no ambiguity.

“So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses (emphasis added).”^[4]

If we fail to forgive our brothers – from our hearts – will be like Brutus stabbing Julius. To be clear, Julius Caesar bears no semblance to Jesus Christ.^[5] But his parting words can foreshadow an experience none of us who confess Christianity will want to have on Judgement Day. If we fail to forgive our brothers, we reject God’s own gift of forgiveness for ourselves. We betray Jesus. Jesus Christ will look at us with the same eyes that Julius had for Brutus. How could you betray me, Christopher? You were supposed to be my friend; you were supposed to be on my side. I told you that you must forgive your brother’s debt because I forgave your own, much larger debt. Christopher, I trusted you to remember and to practice this. Thus, help me God, to learn to truly forgive so when Judgment Day comes, I never hear, “Et tu, Christopher?”

^[1] Genesis 4:8

^[2] Matthew 6:12

^[3] Matthew 18:32-34

^[4] Matthew 18:35

^[5] Interestingly, Julius Caesar is succeeded by Caesar Augustus who was the Roman emperor during the birth of Jesus Christ (see Luke 2:1)

Why doesn’t the bird grow cold? When the seasons change, and the sun begins to hide.

With its little heart and hallow bones, she sings.

Is it perhaps? – with whom she abides?

She casts her song far and wide.

So peacefully she orates, a dawn soliloquy as beautiful as an instrument with harmonious strings.

Why doesn’t the bird grow cold? When the seasons change, and the sun begins to hide.

To provide for His little bird is His greatest source of pride.

For now, she must neither sow nor reap, nor collect many things.

Is it perhaps? – with whom she abides?

Take heart and sing my beloved bird, I promise to guide.

Come, find warmth under My wings.

Oh, why doesn’t the bird grow cold? When the seasons change, and the sun begins to hide.

Living water she drinks from His wounded side.

Do not worry, He says, I am the richest king of kings.

Is it perhaps? – with whom she abides?

And so, all her worries subside.

Her song simply rings and rings.

Thus so, the bird does not grow cold. When the seasons change, and the sun begins to hide.

Is it perhaps? – with whom she abides?

It is always in the midst of tragedy and violence that Christians have the best opportunity to win over those who have no affiliation with the Gospel, no relationship with Jesus Christ, or a negative view of Christianity. The way Christians respond to the worst forms of violence ought to stun and confuse these types of people. Expressing forgiveness, grace, and compassion towards people who murder is perhaps the greatest litmus test to those who profess Christianity: it proves their faith is authentic. It is the telling sign that Christ indeed abounds in their hearts and gives them a transcendent form of love that does not exist naturally. Christianity is the only religion that practices this form of love – the mind-bending command that Jesus taught, saying, “love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.”^[1] Without an authentic relationship with Jesus, I think it is fundamentally impossible to love your enemies. For those who disagree, pray tell, why and how would a man love another man who murdered his loved ones? Loving our enemies is so contrary to the human experience. Yet multiple examples abound.

On June 17, 2015, when nine members of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church were gunned down in a violent racial hate crime, the response from multiple congregants of the victims was nothing short of astounding: Felicia Sanders, a survivor who also lost her son and aunt, amazingly, incomprehensibly, even invited the shooter back to the same bible study.

Alana Simmons, granddaughter of Daniel Simmons:

“Although my grandfather and the other victims died at the hands of hate, this is proof – everyone’s plea for your soul is proof they lived in love and their legacies will live in love, so hate won’t win. And I just want to thank the court for making sure that hate doesn’t win.”

Anthony Thompson, representing the family of Myra Thompson:

“I forgive you, my family forgives you. We would like you to take this opportunity to repent. Repent. Confess. Give your life to the one who matters the most, Christ, so he can change your ways, no matter what happens to you, and you’ll be OK. Do that and you’ll be better off than you are right now.”

Nadine Collier, daughter of Ethel Lance:

“I forgive you. You took something really precious away from me. I will never talk to her ever again. I will never be able to hold her again. But I forgive you and have mercy on your soul. It hurts me, it hurts a lot of people, but God forgives you and I forgive you.”

10 years after the horrific beheading of 20 Coptic Christians and a converted Ghanaian man by the Islamic State in Libya, the parents of these 21 martyrs continue to forgive, give grace, and pray for their sons’ murderers.

“Girgis is with Jesus, and that is what matters now. I surely miss him every second. I have forgiven the militants who killed my son. They did not know what they were doing… Why shouldn’t I forgive? The Lord forgives us every second, and He forgave His own persecutors. My son is a martyr for Jesus, and that is a blessing. I pray for those who killed him – that they may see the truth and follow the light.”

On June 22, 2025, when 31 Orthodox Christians were shot and bombed at St. Elias Greek Orthodox church in Damascus, Syria, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, His Beatitude Theophilos III, concluded his statement with the following:

In this moment of pain, we call upon all people of goodwill to renounce violence and to embrace the Gospel’s call for compassion, forgiveness, and sacred human dignity. “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21).

May the souls of the departed rest in the eternal light of Christ’s resurrection.

Christ is risen! Indeed, He is risen!

And most recently, Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk, powerfully addressed the man who murdered her husband, beginning with the very same words Jesus spoke when he was dying on the cross:

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.“ That man. That young man. I forgive him. I forgive him because it was what Christ did and is what Charlie would do. The answer to hate is not hate. The answer we know from the gospel is love and always love.

Either all these responses are feigned and performative, or there is something far deeper here, something sublime, something divine. The consistency of these responses – across cultures and denominations – speaks volumes about the power of the Gospel and the Holy Spirit’s ability to minimize our human nature and maximize in us His Godly nature. This is not a nice, feel-good statement. This is scriptural. Jesus spoke of the coming Helper in John 15 and 16. He said, “He, [the Helper or Holy Spirit] will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.”^[2] Humans only have the power to love their enemies precisely because such virtues come from the work of the Holy Spirit – hence their divinity. Humans can only escape the natural inclination of hatred, bitterness, and resentment – the exact opposites of these virtues – likewise through the work of the Holy Spirit – hence their sublimity. Jesus promised that the effect of practicing these virtues is perfection, “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in Heaven is perfect.”^[3] St. Peter, in his 2^nd epistle, writes about this beautiful exchange, “His [Jesus Christ’s] divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness” and “that through these [promises] you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”^[4] St. Cyril of Alexandria, an early church Father, writes in one of his Festal Letters, “For he lowered Himself, as I said, unto what is ours, that we might gain what is His, since we have been enriched in a certain way by His poverty.”^[5]

Here I intend to avoid the topic of Theosis, which is the Greek word for deification or “union with God.” Such a deep theological topic comes from St. Athanasius, another early church father, who wrote in his book On the Incarnation, “He, indeed, assumed humanity that we might become God.”^[6] It is a topic more appropriate for theologians to discuss. I merely aim to point out that the virtues of grace, forgiveness, and compassion are sublime and divine in nature – they come not from man’s nature, but God’s.

By praying for the very people who murder these Christians cut through the malice and the vitriol of murder. By asking God to save their enemies, they make a mockery of humanity’s true common enemy, Satan himself. By forgiving their enemies, they throw cold water on the fire of vicious rhetoric and retribution. By giving grace – indeed, providing an excuse for – their enemies, they open wide the door of true repentance for their enemies to walk through. The power of these responses is both redemptive and confounding: it moves people towards Christianity not because it makes sense, but precisely because it does not make sense. Yet, these virtues come from somewhere, or better, Someone. Thus, skeptics and antagonists of Christianity alike are right to question how these Christians can be so compassionate, graceful, and forgiving. Because what they really see is the work of the Holy Spirit speaking through these people, glorifying God and exchanging the earthly for the heavenly.

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^[1] Matthew 5:44

^[2] John 16:14

^[3] Matthew 5:48

^[4] 2 Peter 1:3-4

^[5] St. Cyril of Alexandria, Festal Letter, (440 AD)

^[6] St. Athanasius, Archbishop of Alexandria, On the Incarnation, Christian Classics Ethereal Library, (54) (318 AD)

When a loved one recently passed away, I was reminded of how death was never supposed to be a part of humanity’s story. It is a symptom of the Fall of man.^[1] Any time I witness death it feels so foreign to my human conscience that I become nihilistic and frustrated. And while I am confident in life after death in the Kingdom of Heaven, it is difficult to imagine. That, combined with the stark reality of my loved one simply ceasing to exist consumes all my attention and steals my peace. Which brings me to the beauty of an Orthodox funeral.

In Orthodoxy, funerals are melancholic and full of supplication. We affirm there is “no death, but a departure;” we petition God to “repose the soul of the departed, have mercy on her, and pardon her, and forgive her the multitude of her many sins and pass them by;” we pray that the Lord “opens unto her the gates of rest, that she may sing with all the angels, and become a partaker with all the saints.^[2]”

The processional hymn during a Coptic Orthodox funeral in particular borrows the final words of the dying thief on the right hand of Jesus Christ, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”^[3] It is chanted slowly and somberly. It is a beautiful hymn that I have come to detest. Every time I hear it someone I love is being buried.

Except this time was different. For 50 days following Easter Sunday, the Orthodox faithful chant a joyful hymn during funerals. Carrying the casket of my grandmother, I walked inside the long hallway of my childhood church hearing instead a hymn of triumph. A song of joy and power declaring how Christ trampled down death by His death and resurrected. Out of place, it seemed, yet perfectly conducive to the life after death I wanted her to live.

Then an Orthodox funeral begins with a directive by the priest. It is the same directive that opens nearly every single Orthodox prayer in every single Orthodox church. The priest crosses the faithful and says, “Peace be with all.” In many ways, it is offending. I am not at peace. Someone I love is dead and I will never see her again. And my emotions are a cascade of disparate thoughts: Annoyance – why was the cancer found so late? Guilt – I should have spent more time with her. Sorrow – my grandfather with dementia is now alone. Confusion – why would God allow that?

Yet amidst this flood of emotions, I recall these words are the very same words Jesus first spoke to his disciples after rising from the dead and appearing to them behind closed doors – twice.^[4] “Peace be with you.”^[5] And perhaps therein lies the beauty of an Orthodox funeral. The disciples witnessed death – a violent, publicized death of their leader, friend, and so they thought, God. A cascade of emotions likely also flooded through their minds. Regret – we were not with Him when He needed us most, even after He asked us multiple times.^[6] Guilt – we forsook Him and fled, how could we?^[7] Sorrow – He loved me so well and I denied him.^[8] Fear – are the Jews who killed Him coming for us next?^[9] It is amongst these men that Christ appears to them in a locked house and says simply, “Peace be with you.”

Thus, when I heard those words, a peace washed over me. Not a perfect peace, I was still distraught, but a greater peace than before. Peace that helped me conceptualize that my grandmother’s departure is God’s perfect timing and His ways are above my ways.^[10] Peace that changed my pessimism into a confidence of a more peaceable life for my grandmother. Peace that focused my attention on the Lord of Peace.^[11]

Upon seeing Christ appear in their midst, His disciples were terrified, confused, and overjoyed.^[12][13][14] Jesus responds by again saying “Peace to you” and commissions them to spread the gospel.^[15] With this gift of peace came the implication that His resurrection defeated death, thus changing everything then and today. The “old enmity” or the “middle wall of division” that separated heaven and earth shattered.^[16] He then breathes on His disciples and consigns to them the Holy Spirit which gave them the confidence, leadership, and authority to spread this newfound revelation to the Jews and Gentiles alike.^[17][18] Among those Gentiles were the Egyptians and the ancient ancestors of my grandparents. And they were gifted a church. An Orthodox church that gifts her faithful in their most distressing time the very same words that Jesus spoke. A command of Godly peace that settles the soul and puts my confidence in the One that conquered death.

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^[1] Genesis 2:16-17

^[2] Funeral Exposition, Coptic Funeral for Women

^[3] Luke 23:42

^[4] John 20:26

^[5] Luke 24:36

^[6] Matthew 26:38; Matthew 26:40-41; Matthew 26:43-44

^[7] Mark 14:50

^[8] Luke 22:61-62

^[9] John 20:19

^[10] Isaish 55:8-9

^[11] 2 Thessalonians 3:16

^[12] Luke 24:37

^[13] Luke 24:38-41

^[14] John 20:20

^[15] John 20:21

^[16] Ephesians 2:14-18; also prayed by the Orthodox in the Prayer of Reconciliation from the Divine Liturgy of St. Gregory the Theologian.

^[17] John 20:22

^[18] John 20:23

If you were made to be loved, then perhaps the seasons of suffering and hardship when you could be loved the most are your career highlights, the seasons when His grace abounded and perfected your shortcomings.^[1][2][3]

If you are made to love, you will love your friend indefinitely and thrive in the adversity.^[4][5]

If you were made to love and be loved, then perhaps those in your life that are hardest to love and surely least deserving are the people that God has placed there to show you the depths to which he has loved you. You ought to ponder on your own depravity, and recognize you likewise were loved when you were unlovable.^[6][7]

Thus, in doing so, you begin to know God, you fulfill the law, you become the chosen elect of God, and you are imbued with holiness, being commanded to share the derivatives of love.^[8][9][10]

But be wary, because while you become a child of God you likewise become foreign to the world.^[11]

But what if you were made to love and to be loved, and you hate your brother? Then you walk in darkness and are oblivious to the truth that you walk in darkness.^[12]

And if you hate your brother, you abide in death, are guilty of murder, and reject your eternal life.^[13]

And if you love the world, then you lack the love of the Father and are passing with the world.^[14]

Thus if you are made to love and to be loved, and if you are commanded to love those who harm you, and if the greatest commandments are to love God and your neighbor without reservation, then regardless of what you possess, where you work, or how popular you are, your very humanity, peace, and happiness rests upon gifting and receiving such love.^[15][16][17] There are no two ways about it.

And thus, if you express and receive this kind of love, you will know God and become more like Him, and desire to love others as he has loved you, and in doing so, you will cultivate the kind of sacrificial love that compels you towards the greatest expression of love, the very intention to sacrifice your own life for your friends.^[18][19][20]

^[1] 1 John 4:19

^[2] Romans 8:38-39

^[3] 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

^[4] 1 John 4:11

^[5] Proverbs 17:17

^[6] Ephesians 3:17-19

^[7] Romans 5:8

^[8] 1 John 4:7

^[9] Romans 13:8-10

^[10] Colossians 3:12

^[11] 1 John 3:1

^[12] 1 John 2:11

^[13] 1 John 3:15

^[14] 1 John 2:15

^[15] Luke 6:27-28

^[16] Matthew 22:36-38

^[17] Mark 12:31

^[18] 1 John 4:7

^[19] John 15:12

^[20] John 15:13

What if you could peak beyond the veil of death without actually experiencing death? If I could document this experience, my thinking goes, I could prove that there is a God. But for just 10 minutes, I would walk as a living man on the Other Side of death, witnessing firsthand the great accounting. I would bring a camera and capture the instant – if time exists for the dead – that a man breathes his last breath and his soul leaves his body. Does it hover for a moment before instantly facing Almighty God, trembling in fear, and gasping in awe? Does the Just Judge beam with pride at some, open wide His arms and lovingly embrace the faithful? Does He weep in anguish at others, shake His head, and regretfully turn them away?

I would quietly move about, capturing the expressions and emotions of the awaiting souls. Does their countenance change when they realize their fate? Do they cry tears of joy or tears of anguish? Do the elect leap into heaven and immediately look for loved ones long past while others beg for the Just Judge to reconsider? Do His eyes convey sadness when He responds, “I never knew you.”

I thankfully cannot visit the Other Side of death. Such a morbid thought experiment is merely a proxy for gaining evidence of life after death. But perhaps to little avail, as the bible already addresses this case, but in two seemingly contradicting accounts. One is a parable, and the other is lived experience that Jesus had. The former account is found only in Luke 16:19-31 and the latter is found only in John 11 and 12. Interestingly, the dead man in both cases is named Lazarus, a curious fact that I suspect is not accidental.

Lazarus and Lazarus

In the former, Lazarus a poor beggar covered with sores, lays outside a rich man’s gate. The unnamed rich man lives in luxury. There is no interaction between the two of them except we are told that the beggar “longed to eat what fell from the rich man’s table.” They both die. We are given no additional detail about their lives, nor do we read about how much time they spend “being” dead.

The rich man is taken to Hades while Lazarus is taken to Abraham’s side – seemingly heaven. The rich man is in torment. But he can look “up” to Abraham and asks him to send Lazarus to “dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue.” Abraham says this is not possible for a “great chasm has been set in place” which does not allow “anyone [to] cross from there to us.” The following exchange ensues:

“‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’

Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’

‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

‘He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead’” (emphasis added).

In the second account, Jesus raises an actual Lazarus from the dead. This Lazarus lived in Bethany, had two sisters named Mary and Martha, and was a friend of Jesus. He had been dead for four days. When his sister Mary saw Jesus arrive, she fell down at His feet, and pointedly accused Him of being absent. Jesus delayed His arrival by two days after he heard Lazarus was sick. Mary knew He was late. “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.” This accusation is one of the few instances in which we see Christ troubled and in emotional distress. And Mary’s distress and sorrow directly affected Jesus and is cause for the shortest verse in the bible. “Jesus wept.”

But Jesus had a plan. Before raising Lazarus from the dead, He prays to the Father. “And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” Jesus then tells Lazarus to come forth. A formerly dead man, bound hand and foot with graveclothes, emerges from the tomb, stunning the witnessing Jews.   

Though Jesus performed the act, the risen Lazarus becomes his own spectacle. “A great many of the Jews [came], not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.” The chief priests even plot to put the newly alive Lazarus to death, “because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus” (emphasis added).

Evidence without Love

So, are these two accounts in contradiction? I don’t know. In the former, Abraham says the rich man’s living brothers would not be convinced “even if someone rises from the dead.” Yet that is precisely what happened to Lazarus and “on account of him” many of the Jews believed in Jesus. Perhaps the latter account, given Christ’s direct role in raising Lazarus from the dead, is of greater emphasis. But what if someone today died, rose from the dead, and shared their experience “being” dead? I am persuaded that the experience of the former Lazarus would prevail. But regardless, it would defeat the point of the Gospel. I could have all the evidence and the knowledge in the world, but none of that would matter without love. I am also convinced that debating which account is more “right” is to miss the forest for the trees.

Because Christians already have the greatest evidence for God: It is the existence of sacrificial, selfless love. I know Christ exists because He has loved me to the point of death. This type of love can only be understood as irrational (or better, transcendent, or “not of this world”) because it compels us to do irrational acts like love our enemies, forgive incessantly, and lay down one's life for his friend. It’s the kind of love I can fallibly practice; the kind of love I have witnessed; the kind of love I am a recipient of. But this is a topic to expand on another time. Besides what Christian would want to visit the Other Side of death when all he must do is love selflessly and sacrificially? Surely, it’s more convenient. Or is it?

Today, Good Friday, the Orthodox Church recounts the Passion of Christ. During Holy Week, I think about how much Jesus personally anguished over His death. He surely predicted it; among many things, is this evidence that He struggled to process the torment that awaited Him? He had the knowledge of His death, particularly a painful, tortuous death that ended not with the mercy of speed, but suffocation. How miserable is such knowledge; how dreadful it is to know how and when one will die.

The Prophet Isaiah wrote about how the Christ would proceed to His death willingly, being lead like a lamb to the slaughter. Yet a lamb knows not what awaits it. But Jesus did. And the anticipation and the anxiety lead him to pray the night before His crucifixion in such agony that his sweat became like drops of blood. He was in such distress that an angel strengthened Him.

It is worth pausing here and recalling the dread of an upcoming painful experience. We all have them. Jesus spoke of a pregnant woman in “sorrow” because her hour has come. David the Psalmist fasted for seven days and sought God “from the ground” on behalf of His sick child, refusing to rise or eat until the child was healed or died. Present misery is difficult; misery delayed is agonizing.

Dreading the moments before His arrest, Jesus asked the Father to take away the torment that awaited him. But in perfect character and in the same breath, Jesus declared His obedience to the Father. He, the Son of God, disclosed to His disciples that His soul was sorrowful to the point of death. How did He do it? I have found myself wanting to believe that because Jesus was the all powerful deity, He could have simply willed the pain away. But my faith convicts me otherwise. Jesus was fully man and felt every lash, every nail piercing His body, and gasped for every last breath of air.

Today we rightly focus on Jesus’ death and agonize with Him. But we also ought to recognize and rejoice that the mental anguish He endured preceding His death concluded today. At long last, the moment He came for has arrived and now our grief for Him turns to joy. It is in this exasperation that Jesus breathes his last and cries, “It is finished!”

I often wonder if I was born in the wrong era. One of my favorite means of communication is handwritten letters, dated and signed, arriving discolored and slightly bent after going through the post. I prefer calling to texting and social media isn’t my strong suite.

Like most millennials, I have friends and family that I haven’t seen in years, though I would love to speak to. If I happened to pass them in public, we would enjoy one another’s company and exclaim how lovely it was to see one another. But we don’t call each other. We follow each other on social media, liking posts and stories, but we don’t connect verbally. Why? I’m not sure. Maybe it is because we live in a time where you can “keep up” with people without speaking to people.

Yet we are lonelier than ever. I personally feel lonelier than I should be, and I am not an anomaly. America is an epidemic of loneliness, says the Surgeon General. Loneliness is defined as a state of emotional distress from lacking desired interpersonal relationships.^[1] But it also is widely known to hurt us mentally and physically.^[2] At its worst, it can be as bad as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day. Are smart phones and social media to blame? Or the pandemic? Or our political crisis? I’m sure it’s all the above. “At any moment,” Dr. Murthy says, “about one out of every two Americans is experiencing measurable levels of loneliness.” Being lonely is miserable, global, and not getting better.

Loneliness is so intractable that Dr. Murthy has proposed a national framework for mitigating the cause. And the governments of Japan and the United Kingdom have installed cabinet-level “Ministers of Loneliness ” to tackle social isolation. There are many solutions, and I certainly do not have the whole solution to the “greatest disease of our time”.^[3] What I do know is I have 5-10 minutes every Sunday to call someone I love but haven’t connected with. And chances are you also have those 5-10 minutes.

The Cold Call Check-In

But calling is intimidating. And when it’s been months or even years since you’ve spoken with a friend, calling can even be awkward. But it is worth the risk. Plan these calls if you must, but the Sunday cold call communicates “I thought of you, I want to connect with you, and I want to maintain our relationship.”

The other impediment to callings is the sense that the conversation, while rich, would require a long-time commitment. There’s so much life to catch up on, you see. How have you actually been? Are you seeing anyone? These conversations can easily span an hour. While that’s wholesome and wonderful, these conversions don’t have to be intimate or long. There is something especially fulfilling about chatting for 10 minutes, expressing joy in making such a connection, and going about your day. Thus, I think it’s better to keep these phone calls shorter but more frequent. Greater frequency makes for quick, rewarding conversation and reduces future apprehension.  

If you are brave enough to call most likely you will get a voicemail. This is your chance to shine. Avoid texting – the person will likely text back. Leave a voicemail. How lovely would it be to receive a voicemail from a friend who said he or she thought of you and wanted to check in. Leave such a voicemail.

Greet Well

I am reading a great book called How to Know a Person The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen by New York Times Columnist David Brooks. He recalls an experience he had with Jimmy, a jovial pastor greeting a ninety-three-year-old woman.

            He saw her across the room and came up to our table smiling as broadly as it is possible for a human face to smile. Then he grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her way harder than you should ever shake a ninety-three-year-old. He leaned in, inches from her face, and cried out in a voice that filled the whole place: Mrs. Dorsey! Mrs. Dorsey! You’re the best! You’re the best! I love you! I love you!^[4]

If you find greeting someone like Jimmy over-the-top or a bit uncomfortable, understand that Jimmy sees every person as a created, loved, and valued son or daughter of God. That’s why Jimmy is a masterful greeter. Brooks writes:

When Jimmy sees a person, any person, he is also seeing a creature endowed with an immortal soul – a soul of infinite value and dignity. When Jimmy greets a person, he is also trying to live up to one of the great callings of his faith. He is trying to see that person the way Jesus would see that person. He is trying to see them with Jesus’s eyes – eyes that lavish love on the meek and the lowly, the marginalized and those in pain, and on every living person. When Jimmy sees a person, he comes in with the belief that this person is so important that Jesus was willing to die for their sake.^[5]

St. Paul, author of two-thirds of the New Testament, was notorious for lavishing his friends with greetings and dedicates 16 verses to greet nearly 30 people. His intentionality in maintaining relationships via a rudimentary form of mail all the more emphasizes how Christians ought to maintain relationships in an era of far easier communication. 

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Offer Attention, Illuminate

Conversate but be wary of multitasking. Sure, fold some laundry, but a distracted, noisy, mentally detached conversation is not a conversation. It’s a task. Attention, on the other hand, is one of the most valuable gifts you can give and receive. It is eye contact – or a phone call – a valuable commodity in our distraction economy. It’s a warm smile that communicates “You are important to me; tell me more.” It’s body language that affirms the true uniqueness of the human being in front of you. Such a gift is rare. Let your conversation offer this degree of Attention.

Brooks coins the term for people who attend to others like this, Illuminators. It’s the perfect word. His chapter, Illumination, is written for cultivating new relationships, but is perfectly applicable to existing friendships.

If you see the people you meet as precious souls, you’ll probably wind up treating them well. If you can attend to people in this way, you won’t be merely observing them or scrutinizing them. You’ll be illuminating them with a gaze that is warm, respectful, and admiring. You’ll be offering a gaze that says, ‘I’m going to trust you, before you trust me.’ Being an Illuminator is a way of being with other people, a style of presence, an ethical ideal. When you’re practicing Illuminationism, you’re offering a gaze that says, ‘I want to get to know you and be known by you.’^[6]

Converse in a way that you communicate such a gaze. Call that friend on Sunday, keep it brief yet express a desire for greater frequency, and leave that voicemail. You will be less lonely and so will your friend. That is why Sundays are for calls and voicemails.

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^[1] Heinrich LM, Gullone E. The clinical significance of loneliness: a literature review. Clin Psychol Rev. 2006;26(6):695–718. [PubMed] [Google Scholar] 

^[2]  Leigh-Hunt N, Bagguley D, Bash K, et al. An overview of systematic reviews on the public health consequences of social isolation and loneliness. Public Health. 2017;152:157–171. [PubMed] [Google Scholar] [Ref list]

^[3] Nouwen, Henri Making All Things New, HarperOne, 2009, pg. 32-35.

^[4] Brooks, David, How to Know A Person The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen, Penguin Random House, 2023, pg. 29.

^[5] Ibid, pg. 31.

^[6] Ibid, pg. 32.

At the third republican debate, the candidates were asked a military question about “whether the United States has enough ships to deter, and if necessary defeat, a Chinese invasion of Taiwan?” and “where are we going to get the money to build such ships?” and even “what kind of ships would you build?” Those are specific questions – one I don’t think the candidates were prepared for, which is why many of the answers were rehearsed statements about “supporting Taiwan” or “fighting China at home” or attacking one another. The most direct answer was given by Governor Christie who asserted that “nuclear submarines are the best deterrence against China.” Fair enough, these are candidates for president after all, not naval military experts. But we should expect our candidates for president to be well read enough about history to know that the better answer is to draw from the Reagan Administration’s fight against the Soviet Union.

Firstly, a rebuttal:

“Mr. Moderator, how do you even know that the answer is more ships? What if the most effective means of military deterrence against a Chinese invasion of Taiwan is instead low-cost weapons systems that prioritizes our ability to destroy must more expensive aircraft and ships? Did you know that this strategy was very successful in the Reagan Administration?”

Secondly, a brief history lesson:

“While President Reagan was famous for increasing the United States’ defense budget and forcing the Soviet Union to also spend heavily, his administration did not just outspend the Soviet Union, it developed ‘cutting edge weapons systems based on unique technologies that could outmatch anything the Kremlin wielded, no matter how much more the Soviets spent and built.1 Reagan’s Defense Department ‘exploited opportunities to impose disproportionate costs on the USSR over the long term’ and ‘identified areas of comparative U.S. advantage and used them to exploit areas of comparative Soviet weakness or disadvantages.’”2

Thirdly, keep the audience engaged, provide concrete examples:

“Creative technologies abounded. For example, the Soviet Union was known for its massive tank arsenal. Matching such armor an ocean away would have been cost-prohibitive for the United States and strategically imprudent. Instead, the United States ‘developed ‘tank-killer’ aircraft like the A-10 Thunderbolt II jet and the AH-64 Apache helicopter.’3 Other innovations, like the B-1 and B-2 stealth bombers evaded Soviet radar and American submarines were drastically better at evasion and detection than the much larger Soviet submarine fleet.”

Bring the answer full circle to today:

“Today the United States can mimic similar policy to counter the power projection capabilities of the Chinese navy. The answer isn’t just to build more ships, deploy them across the Pacific, and directly match the Chinese Navy ship for ship. The answer is to develop ‘ship-killer’ technologies like kamikaze sea and air drones. Not only are these technologies cheaper and quicker to manufacture, but they can also be deployed to Taiwan covertly or even overtly depending on whether we want China to know Taiwan has such capabilities.

Thankfully, we have already started. Having seen the success from arming Ukraine with drones and stinger missiles that severely increase the costs for the Russian military, the Pentagon recently delivered stinger missiles to Taiwan. So instead of only focusing on very expensive and time-consuming ships, we can deter China from invading Taiwan by remembering the creative lessons from the Reagan Administration.”

Finally, remember a key law of history as coined by historian H.W. Brands:

“We know that ‘sooner or later, countries get the foreign policy they can afford.’ By continuing to focus on developing cutting-edge technologies that are vastly cheaper than ships and aircraft, the United States can chip away at Chinese advantages in the region, rendering an invasion of Taiwan unaffordable and militarily impracticable. Take that for an answer, Mr. Moderator.”

The Passion Narrative: The Gospel of Luke

First, they arrested Him in the dead of the night. Without a conviction, they mocked, blindfolded, and beat Him. As the daylight came, Jesus faced the Sanhedrin, a Jewish court of elders who sought to put Jesus to death because He called Himself the Son of God.

They led Him to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor with the authority to put Jesus to death. But Pilate found no fault in Jesus and sent Him to the governor of the Galilee jurisdiction, Herod. Herod questioned Jesus, but likewise found Jesus undeserving of death and sent Him back to Pilate. Pilate told the Jewish leaders and people: “This Man is innocent.” But to appease the Jews, Pontius Pilate had Jesus flogged, a terrible means of torture that rips the flesh off one’s back (the Orthodox tradition says Jesus was whipped 39 times). Then Pilate brought a bloodied and wounded Jesus before the Jews once more and sought to release Him for the Sabbath.

But the Jewish elders and people demanded that Pilate crucify Him. They showed Him no compassion. Why? Pilate asked, “what evil has He done?” Though Pilate knew he betrayed innocent blood, he relented and delivered Jesus to be crucified.

Forced to carry the cross, which weighed over 150 pounds, Jesus made the exhausting trek to the hill where He was to die. Falling repeatedly, Jesus required help from another man.

Then His crucifiers humiliated him. Stripping him of his purple robe, they barely left a cloth to cover Him, a degrading prospect for any man, let alone the Son of God.

Then they crucified Him. Crucifixion is a death of asphyxiation. Jesus had to suffocate to die. But He first watched people mock him again after the Romans hammered nails through the sinews of His hands and the bones of His feet. Once upright, Jesus had to physically force Himself up to stay alive, or else the weight of His body would pull down on His arms, making breathing impossible. That He could speak at all in the midst of such torture is beyond me. That He continued to fulfill His ministry is why I call Him Lord. Through His labored breathing, struggling to stay alive, Jesus lived long enough to enact mercy one final time.

Despite all the suffering, humiliation, torture, and exhausting death, Jesus looked at those who inflicted such pain upon Him and sympathized with them. He was concerned for their salvation. He moved beyond empathy, had compassion on them, and loved them by seeking their good. In his dying breaths, Jesus petitioned the Father. “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

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The Compassion Doctrine

I define the compassion doctrine as the desire and the decision to alleviate the suffering of all people, including – and especially – of those who hurt me professionally, socially, financially, and even physically by praying for their repentance and salvation. This even includes people who hurt my loved ones. It is the practice of looking at others with the same eyes of Jesus, with the understanding that sin has wounded every human being, and thus suffering is present within everyone. The compassion doctrine is not concerned with “feeling bad for someone.” Rather it understands that when someone hurts me – he himself suffers. He becomes a slave to the sin he committed, which without repentance, festers and leads him to death.

Brokenness is Ubiquitous

Compassion naturally occurs when we see physical suffering. Ukrainian mothers weeping over their dead sons, immigrants sweltering in the heat, or even an old person struggling with their dropped groceries. Being compassionate becomes exceedingly difficult towards people whose suffering is not outward, who look to be at the top of the world: Successful politicians, beautiful celebrities, influential athletes. But the compassion doctrine understands that every human is broken and thus every human will need prayer. But here is not one among us, no matter how successful, rich, popular, or beautiful, that does not experience brokenness. This understanding demands that I show compassion as much as possible, towards as many as possible – especially my enemies.

Love Your Enemies

Fundamentally, compassion is a derivative of love. It is impossible to pray for the good of your enemies without first believing the commandment to love your enemies. But why should I love my enemies to begin with? Why should we not despise our enemies, wish to see them fail, and be happy when they suffer? Well, we all suffer from the corruption of sin. While there are manifestations of sin that are more violent – rape, murder, human trafficking – it is a disease that has sparred no one. All of us will hurt someone someday and all of us will require compassion. And God wants everyone to be saved and turned away from the pain of sin. Every Christian should remember Romans 5:8. Did Jesus withhold compassion from us while we lived in sin? Not so, Christ died for us in the midst of our sin and rebellion against Him.

We often pray in the Orthodox church that our God is so compassionate and so merciful that He does not wish the death of a sinner, but rather that he returns and lives. Jesus said that heaven rejoices over the repentance of a sinner. But how is one sincerely compassionate towards his or her enemies?

Practicing Compassion: Keep Looking At The Father

I believe when Jesus died, He was not looking at His enemies. I think He cast his eyes downward at His crucifers for just a moment and then kept His eyes cast upward. I believe He died looking at the Father. Praying for my enemies is impossible when my mind’s eye is cast on them. My human instinct is too powerful. My desire for retribution is too atavistic. Every time I catch myself devoting energy to how my enemy wronged me and how I can “get him back,” I must cast my eyes towards the Father. Father, forgive him, yes, he hurt me, but I don’t want him to suffer. Father, lead him to repentance. You said Heaven rejoices when a sinner repents. I want to be side by side with my enemy in your kingdom, praising you. 

I am not inventing a new idea here. My intention is to articulate a powerful, but uncomfortable truth. Jesus tasked Christians to practice compassion, particularly to our enemies. Do you recall when Jesus first taught us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us? The words Jesus spoke on the cross are the demonstration of that teaching. How marvelous is our God! Our King, at His weakest point, was strong enough to practice what He preached.

Practically, in prayer, first remove your enemy from the context in which they harmed you.  Remember that every human being is crafted in the image of God – yes, that includes President Biden and President Trump or other public figures whom you may disdain. Pray they become aware – “for they know not what they do” – of the hurt they caused and like Zacchaeus the tax collector, repay the people he cheated four times as much. Just as you pray for your own success – professionally, relationally, and physically, do likewise for your enemy. Pray they change and become a better person. The litmus test for your heart is when such prayer is answered. Do you respond with revolt if your enemy becomes a better person? Or thank God for their changed heart?

Compassion Is Medicine for Your Soul

Jesus also had our hearts in mind when He gave us this commandment. He knew how much energy we spend ruminating over personal grievances. He knew how dangerous it is for our mental, social, and spiritual health. Thus, compassion is also medicine for your soul. By praying for your enemies, you invariably soften your heart towards them. Compassion becomes the antidote to the dangerous sin of schadenfreude.

The Compassion Doctrine and Justice

Is the compassion doctrine compatible with justice? It is. But it requires holding two seemingly contradictory ideas in your head simultaneously. I established that Christians are tasked to pray for their enemies. But that does not mean the hurt he or she caused does not exist. Nor does it mean their actions go unpunished or are “okay”. It does not mean you must be friends with your enemies. It does not mean you seek their company or to trust them.

Christians are clearly commanded to abhor what is evil. And are explicitly charged to pursue justice. Thus, you may simultaneously seek earthly justice against your enemies and pray for their heavenly salvation.  As Christians, we want our enemies to become better, to repent, and like Jesus – to be saved.

Conclusion

Jesus teaches us, in His dying breaths, what it means to love our enemies. It means to pray for them. It means to seek to alleviate their future suffering and ask God for their repentance. We cannot love those who have hurt us without Jesus. That is how I know my faith is so real; I have no ability to love my enemies on my own. It is only because Jesus’ example and grace that I pray for my enemies.

Critics and skeptics will argue that surely Jesus could pray for his enemies because He is God. Indeed, we will never be able to be as gracious or compassionate as Jesus. But that argument forgets that Jesus was also fully human. He felt every bit of pain on the Cross. And yet He still chose to be merciful.

But I take comfort and counsel in a different biblical example about a regular person. An angry crowd, without conviction, murders an innocent man. St. Stephen, the first martyr, was stoned to death. His last words? “Lord, do not charge them with sin.”

Recently, I attended an event in which a senior government official was asked if there was any “good news in the world.” She struggled with the question and could not think of something positive to disclose. “But I am sure there is some good news out there” she said. What she did share, however, struck me. She stated that the “Boss” asked her the same question recently. By whom, of course, she meant the President.

While this admission may seem insignificant – and would never make the New York Times – she gave the audience insight into President Biden’s private thoughts and emotions. President Biden constantly receives briefings about bad actors in the world. Then he must make life and death decisions. Indeed, just hours after the talk, a story broke that U.S. Special Operations conducted a raid that killed several terrorists in Somalia. Had there been American casualties, the tragedy would also be a political nightmare. Thus, the success of the raid speaks to immense competency from the President to the operators pulling the trigger. Congratulations to them all.

This is a reminder that President Biden is human. Yes, he is a very powerful man. But he shares much in common with the rest of us. He misses his son, loves his wife, and enjoys his grandchildren. Not only does he likewise tire of bad news, he must act. I only know of one person that regularly makes decisions that can kill terrorists, harm civilians, and put Americans in harm’s way. And must deter Putin against using nuclear weapons. And speak boldly enough, yet cautiously enough, that he does not incite aggression against Taiwan.

Christians are called to pray for those in authority so that we may “lead a quiet and peaceable life.” Regardless of your political differences with any leader, this command implores Christians to seek the success of those who lead us and to give thanks for them, including President Biden. Critique him, vote against him, but thank God for him and pray for his prudence and success. May God Bless President Biden.

My priest has often said that love is the most overused word in the English language. I agree. Love is worth infinitely more than its common use in English would communicate.  Best defined, love is God.[1]  Thus, by definition, love is transcendent.[2] ] It is constant.[3] It persists even when the other is guilty of pain.[4] It is selfless to the point of death.[5] Love is far greater than attraction or affection or emotions or feelings.

For Christians who profess the Nicene Creed, we know that Son, the Father, and the Holy Spirit are of one essence. What follows is that Jesus is also love. This should be perfectly obvious given that Jesus gave us the best expression of love when he selflessly died on the cross for all mankind. Jesus taught us – and demonstrated –that love in its highest form is sacrificial action.[6]

Critics will argue that love is not only sacrificial, and that other forms of love exist. This is true. Expressions of love – particularly in romantic relationships – are well documented in a book on the languages of love. But love in its highest form and best expression is sacrificial, selfless, and does not seek its own.[7]  

Other critics will argue there is no harm in “loving” the material world. But love is from the Father, and the Father is constant. The world is separate from the Father and temporal.[8] We are all born in His image and are not made to love this world. Doing so will never fulfill our need to love and to be loved.

The problem here is the English language. In practice we use love as the greater form of “like”.[9] But “like” and “love” are not even on the same spectrum. Liking something or someone is concerned with the self. Love is concerned with the other. English lacks a word to express a greater form of “liking” to help us communicate a greater admiration for people whose company we enjoy or for objects that give us pleasure.[10]

And while the prospects of the English language inventing such a word remain bleak, we ought not to water down the sacrificial love of Jesus by expressing “love” for the material world: food, cars, clothing, work. Instead, we should express love more generously – towards people,[11] virtues,[12] and God,[13] but more sparingly with the inanimate and the temporary.

[1] “And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.” 1 John 4:16

[2]  “That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:17-19 (Emphasis added).

[3] “A friend loves as all times. And a brother is born for adversity.” Proverbs 17:17

[4] “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

[5] “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

[6] “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” John 15:13

[7] “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”1 Corinthians 13:4-7

[8] “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – is not of the Father but is of the world.  And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” 1 John 2:15-17

[9] At least English is better than French, “the language of love”, which has just one word for like and love: aimer.

[10] This is why English has reduplication: “So, you must like-like her?”

[11] “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another.” Romans 12:9-10

[12] “He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8

[13]  “Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’” Matthew 22:37

George Orwell described nationalism as “the habit of identifying oneself with a single nation or other unit, placing it beyond good and evil and recognizing no other duty than that of advancing its interests” (emphasis added). [1] January 6, 2021 was obviously an expression of extreme nationalism. But what bothered me most is that a symbol that I love, the American flag, was brandished as if the people who stormed the capitol were storming the beaches of Normandy. What a shameful use of the symbol that has covered the caskets of America’s fallen.

Both nationalists and patriots may fly the American flag, support our troops, and likewise “love” America, but only patriots understand that America is great nation not because we are powerful or have a specific cultural identity. America is a great nation because we put forth the notion in 1776 that this country is an ideal, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal, an ideal that countless Americans have protested, fought, and died for so that our founding principles could coincide with our lived reality.

We are a still a great experiment in the concept of equality and the conception of liberty.

Thus, this July Fourth, I want to recover true patriotism, a patriotism that contrives love of country out of a respect and admiration of American values, but more importantly, a patriotism that expects, no demands, that we indeed live up to the American creed. Love of country is recognizing our founding ideals did not coincide with our founding reality. And thus, love of country means correcting our national sins. But love of country also rejects the attitude of extreme pessimism that fails to recognize the progress that Americans before us have made on social and racial reconciliation. Love of country expresses an optimism for the future and works towards America’s best days. And love of country is simply an affection for home. Happy Fourth.

[1] Orwell, George. Notes on Nationalism. Orwell Foundation. 1945

This essay originally appeared on Medium.com on 12/25/21.

Today is Christmas and as we celebrate Christs’ birth amid round two of the Covid-19 era, I would like to briefly share my thoughts on the meaning of Christmas.

God has many names. Wonderful. Prince of Peace. Alpha. Omega. The Great I Am. But my favorite name for God, bar none, is Emmanuel. It means God with us. God with us. God choose to become a man and was born of the Virgin in a lowly manger. C.S. Lewis writes in Mere Christianity that God could not surrender, suffer, and die in His own nature. God could only die by becoming a man and He did so perfectly because He was God.[1] And when God came to us and lived among us through His son Jesus, He did not come and rule like a king. He deliberately spent time with the contagious, the social outcasts, and the legally condemned. He was with the people that are the hardest to be with: The leper, the tax collector, and the adulterous woman. But Jesus also taught us to love our enemies and pray for their salvation. He loved his friends and was the Great Inviter.

I think today the greatest form of justice Christians can impose on the Christian Witness is emulating Christ in this manner. We can be most like Jesus when we know and love others like He did. But it also works in reverse: The greatest form of injustice is not emulating Christ in this manner. The world suffers when Christians do not know and love others like Christ does. I do not mean this as a platitude because it is not easy to do. There are three types of people that we all can know and love better in 2022: Our friends and family, the socially ostracized, and our political “enemies.”

I love the way Timothy Keller puts God’s greatest commandment in The Meaning of Marriage, “To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything. It liberates us from pretense, humbles us out of our self-righteousness, and fortifies us for any difficulty life can throw at us.”[2]

Knowing and loving our friends and family better should be the easiest. Start there and spend some time making a friend a close friend. Call that cousin and reconnect. Knowing and loving the socially outcasts and our political enemies is harder. But if we as Christians truly intend to be the salt of the earth, we must do exactly that. Yes, it is inconvenient and requires spending time with and loving people who are not popular and not the most fun to be around. I mean the left-winger, the right-winger, the guy with a funny accent, the gal that cannot afford nice shoes, the immigrants with terrible teeth, the widowed and the divorced, the orphans who cannot make eye contact, and the imprisoned man disowned by his family. The list is endless.

We also live in a fallen world, with broken, sinful people who spend far too much time breaking each other. So, I think I will consider 2022 successful if I can know and love as many people as possible as deeply as possible. I know that love is action, not a feeling. And everyone has a story. Simply being with someone and listening to their story is an act of love. Not doing so, is literally deadly. So-called “deaths of despair” — alcoholism, drug overdose, and suicides — have risen significantly since Covid-19 began. From 2005 to 2019, an average of 70,000 Americans died annually from these causes. The numbers are still being calculated, but local data on opioid overdoses support the hypothesis that the pandemic and 2019 recession were associated with a 10 to 60 percent increase in deaths of despair above pre-pandemic levels.[3] The point: There is someone in your community that desperately needs to be known, loved, and listened to.

So, I implore my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to be with more people than you did in 2021. This starts with just being a better friend. And when are you ready, show up and go be with the people that Jesus has put on your heart to befriend. If God Himself could become man, humbling himself to the point of death, so He could be with us — we can emulate His likeness by loving others without pretense to social hierarchy or political bias. Merry Christmas friends.

And let us not forget…

While we celebrate Christs’ birth today, remember that 2021 was the year that Kabul fell to the Taliban and the dreams of millions of Afghans who believed they could grow up in a free society were ruined. Parents are so desperate for money that they are selling their own children.

Winter in Afghanistan is particularly brutal. Afghans are in desperate need of our prayers. For years they have been the victims of the battle between the United States and the Taliban. Today let us pray that their suffering ends and they can just stay warm this winter.

***

[1] C.S. Lewis. Mere Christianity. HarperSanFrancisco. Pg. 58.

[2] Timothy Keller. The Meaning of Marriage. Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God. Dutton. November 1, 2011.

[3] Casey B. Mulligan. Deaths of Despair and the Incidence of Excess Mortality in 2020. National Bureau of Economic Research. December 2020.

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Thus, this July Fourth, I want us to remember America is an ideal, a great experiment in the concept of equality and the conception of liberty. For most of human history, mankind has gone through tremendous conflict and political instability to determine how we shall be governed. Democracy, human rights, due process, free speech, and our worldwide relative peace are anomalies in the arc of history. Without a champion or defender, ideals become merely ideas — conceptions or notions. Ideals on the other hand, are standards of perfection, excellence, the attempt to be as best as possible. Many times, we lived up to our ideals, many times we have fallen short, but our bar has always been high. We ought to condemn ourselves most not when we fail to clear to the bar, but when we fail to set one at all. And just like we commend the athlete for raising the bar and delight when he succeeds, we ought to commend ourselves when we succeed. However, when the athlete fails we do not exclaim that he set the standard too high. Instead we encourage him to get back up, try again, and reach for his best. Our record as the leader of the Free World is strong; we have more victories than losses. And the more other nations liberalize (not in the progressive sense, but in the democratic sense) the greater our security perimeter becomes. That is why the success of democracy abroad has always been an American objective. It is our “trademark” if you will. America Champions Liberty. Mostly. ™

If we truly tried to live up to our ideals, we would not be exiting Afghanistan like we are. By losing in Afghanistan, we are deserving of such condemnation; the bar was too high, too hard for us to clear. So to make ourselves feel better we are “leaving” and calling it a victory, but in reality, we have failed because we have chosen to fail. We are removing the bar. Using tropes like “endless war” President Biden attempts to convince us that giving up on the future of Afghanistan is just and good for America. Neither of which are true. President Trump did the same. But there is no such thing as “ending” a war. Wars are either won or lost. Thus we are losing the war in Afghanistan because we are choosing to lose the war in Afghanistan. Our exit is a dereliction of duty of the highest order to every American service member that has spilled blood securing the state against the Taliban and al-Qaeda. The essential condition for victory is, and has always been, the construction of a government capable of maintaining order in Afghanistan.[1] This is mainly for our security, but it also serves a just and humanitarian means. When Presidents Trump and Biden decided to implement such policy, there is no doubt they received intelligence highlighting the security risks to our departure. We will be hit with another catastrophic terror attack. We will not live free of fear.[2] Give al-Qaeda room to fester and operate and they will come for us. I hope to God I am wrong and we can successfully keep them at bay with drone strikes. However, no argument screams “elitism” and “imperialism” more than America, the rich and powerful west, damning the Afghans to endless cycles of violence and lawlessness while we patrol their skies assassinating terrorists who threaten our security. That is the epitome of modern day imperialism. Thus, the establishment of a strong democratic government is not only good for our national security; it is the just approach for human rights. There are girls who will be forbidden to go to school once we leave. Translators will be killed, perhaps beheaded. The experiment of democracy in the Muslim world would be tarnished.[3] And much like when we left Iraq, a humanitarian catastrophe will unfold in South Asia.[4]I think we should give a damn about that. That is the justice in our plight. But, this argument is about America as an idealistic and pragmatic nation. We ought to stay in Afghanistan because of our security and because of the security of other human beings. And lest you argue that stabilization and democratization efforts in Kabul are imperialistic and ineffective, consider the alternative. Indeed, it is the counterterrorism approach that perpetuates a true unjust endless war, endless cycles of failed governance and war with no path forward to peace. By picking off terrorists from the sky, we are not actually pursuing victory and peace.

There is extraordinary historical precedence for our commitment to democracy abroad. Republican and democratic administrations alike have always aligned our American security and the success of democracy abroad. It will be an aberration for President Biden to do otherwise as it was for President Trump. And at home, our ideals created a gold-standard by which Americans across time have been challenged to live out the true meaning of our creed.

It was the basis for America’s founding and the conception of a radical truth “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”; it was the foundation for the elimination of slavery, “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal… that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom-and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth;[5] ” it was a motivation for entering World War One, “The world must be made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the tested foundations of political liberty[6]”; it steeled the men who stormed the beaches of Normandy, “You will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed people of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world[7]”; it was the truth that spread like fire during the March on Washington “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal” [8]; it inspired a New Generation of Americas, “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, opposes any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty;”[9] it was the strongest protection against Communism “We welcome change and openness; for we believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace. There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace. General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”[10] it laid a peaceful foundation upon which the world could live free of fear from nuclear war, “For over 40 years the United States led the West in the struggle against communism and the threat it posed to our most precious values. This struggle shaped the lives of all Americans. It forced all nations to live under the specter of nuclear destruction. That confrontation is now over. The nuclear threat, while far from gone, is receding. Eastern Europe is free. The Soviet Union itself is no more. This is a victory for democracy and freedom. It’s a victory for the moral force of our values… Our enemies have become our partners, committed to building democratic and civil societies. They ask for our support, and we will give it to them. We will do it because, as Americans, we can do no less. For our children, we must offer them the guarantee of a peaceful and prosperous future, a future grounded in a world built on strong democratic principles, free from the specter of global conflict.;”[11] it is our greatest strength “But our greatest strength is the power of our ideas, which are still new in many lands. Across the world, we see them embraced, and we rejoice. Our hopes, our hearts, our hands, are with those on every continent we are building democracy and freedom. Their cause is America’s cause;”[12] it brought resolve to the ruble of Ground Zero “This is a day when all Americans from every walk of life unite in our resolve for justice and peace. America has stood down enemies before and will do so this time. None of us will ever forget this day, yet we go forward to defend freedom and all that is good and just in our world;”[13] and it brought justice against Osama bin Laden “That is the story of our history, whether it’s the pursuit of prosperity for our people, or the struggle for equality for all our citizens, our commitment to stand up for our values abroad, and our sacrifices to make the world a safer place. Let us remember that we can do these things not just because of wealth or power, but because of who we are: one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”[14]

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[1] Paul, Miller. American Power and World Order. Georgetown University Press. 2016. Pg. 186

[2] 2002 National Security Strategy.

[3] Paul, Miller. American Power and World Order. Georgetown University Press. 2016. Pg. 186

[4] Thomas Gibbons-Neff and Eric Schmitt. Security in Afghanistan Is Decaying, U.S. General Says as Forces Leave. New York Times. July 3, 2021

[5] Lincoln, Abraham. Gettysburg Address. November 19, 1963.

[6] Woodrow, Wilson. Declaration of War Speech. Library of Congress. April 2, 1917.

[7] Eisenhower, Dwight. Speech. June 6, 1944.

[8] King, Martin Luther. I Have a Dream. Speech. August 28, 1963.

[9] Kennedy, John F. Inaugural Address. January 20, 1961.

[10] Reagan, Ronald. Berlin Wall Speech. June 12, 1987.

[11] Bush, H.W. Address on Gorbachev Resignation. December 25, 1991.

[12] Clinton, William. Inaugural Address. January 20, 1993.

[13] Bush, George. Oval Office Address. September 11, 2001.

[14] Obama, Barrack. Address to the Nation. May 2, 2011.