When Love Shows Up: Weekly Reflections about God’s Presence

Loving My Political Enemy - Part 2

As we decide whether or not to take Jesus seriously, it is worth noting that Jesus was not a person of privilege. I say this in part because I am a person of privilege, and in part because sometimes we forget about who Jesus really is and we categorize him as one as well.  
I know that in our current climate even talking about having privilege is divisive. I know using that language will throw some people off, or make you shake your head and stick me in a specific category before I go any further. That’s ok. There is no way around it: My race, gender, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, and income bracket all point to the fact that my life in the United States is more convenient than if any of those things were something else. I could get in a time machine and go to any point in this country’s history and my rights and stature would be roughly the same as what they are now. People like me are who the framers of our constitution had in mind when they founded this country – and our government and culture still reflect that reality. Privilege. 
So, when I say we should love our enemies, one could easily respond, “Well that’s easy enough for you to say: What have you got to lose?” And that would be a fair point.

Loving My Political Enemy - Part 1

Maybe the most controversial and universally ignored statement of Jesus’ entire ministry is when he says, love your enemies and pray for those who hate you. It seems the universal response to Jesus’ command is “No. No thank you.” We do not at all seem interested in this, and we who call ourselves Christian often relegate this command to either a suggestion or a description of being an idealistic superhuman. It is neither of these things. Loving our enemies is not a suggestion. It is, however, a description – not of a superhuman, but of something you and I can learn to do in real life if we are interested in taking Jesus seriously.
I get that we are skeptical of Jesus’ admonition to love our enemies and pray for those that hate us. In part this skepticism comes from a shallow understanding of love simply as warm and affectionate feelings. And being commanded to feel warm feelings and think happy thoughts about those who hate us rightfully seems ridiculous. Try to remember that when Jesus talks about love, he is not appealing to your emotions or sentiments: He is talking about the lens through which you view people, and the actions you take towards them. He is talking practically.
So let’s think practically. Political and ideological division are at the front of our minds these days, and I understand why. For the record, when you hear people say, “Politics should never get in the way of our relationship,” I disagree.

WLSU: Love In Real Time

 I want to talk about love in real time, in real life. I want to articulate a practical application of love. With that in mind how about this: Love is a lens through which we look at the world, at our lives, at our selves. In the Christian tradition it is said that God made the world, and that God made humans in God’s image. In practical terms then, to look through the lens of love is to try to find God’s presence in everyone I meet, in every situation in which I find myself – and then to honor that presence with my words and deeds.
This is practical work. Because participating in the love for which we were made takes work even if we were made for it. And we need to say that out loud because when we don’t we get caught up in romantic notions of love as something that comes easy. Then when love becomes difficult, we misidentify and abandon it. “What good is it to love only the people who love you?” Jesus was known to ask, and this is what he was getting at. “Oh, you see God’s presence in people who like you and make your life easier? How nice! Are you interested in something deeper?”

WLSU, Christmas Is Over - The Rev. Philip DeVaul

We took down our Christmas tree last night. We are not an organized people, the DeVauls, so there are still plenty of decorations up, waiting to be boxed and stored til next December. But the trash man was coming today, and we needed to get that tree to the curb.
When we set the tree up, we make a big deal out of it. I am one of those sticklers for a real tree. I am not judging you for your fake tree. Well, I probably am a little bit, but only a little bit, because I really believe you should do whatever you need to do to enjoy your holiday season. You don’t need me to micromanage your joy.
But I am difficult and stubborn and ritualistic about how we do Christmas. We have found our Christmas tree place, so it will be nearly impossible for me to be convinced to look elsewhere next year. We will get a tree the first week of Advent, we will make hot chocolate and put on pajamas. My wife is in charge of the lights. I am in charge of the music. We listen to the same music every year. The kids insist that the first song be Bob Dylan singing “Must be Santa”. I have indoctrinated them well.
There are no good songs for taking down Christmas decorations. That’s what I have realized, and I hate it. We have no ritual for stripping the tree and dumping it in the street. I grabbed the box for the decorations and called the kids over. My wife didn’t even bother looking up. “What should we listen to?” I asked. Nobody had any answers. “Christmas music?” I suggested. My daughter just said, “Nah. Christmas is over.”

WLSU, What I Learned in 2024 - The Rev. Philip DeVaul

I want to do something I don't normally do. I want to look back on this past year and name a few things I learned in 2024. I wouldn't normally do this because, frankly, who the hell am I to tell you what I've learned, as if it could be relevant to you? It's a little cocky. So when I say I learn them, please know I am guessing you probably already knew all these things yourself. So rather than learning anything from me, you get to just be proud of me for finally catching up with you!
It's also worth saying that most of the things I learned this year, I did not learn for the first time. At least I think I've thought them before. But in this last year, these four things sang out more loudly, more clearly than they ever have before. So this is more like four things I relearned. I tend to resist New Year's resolutions, but I will say as I look forward to 2025, I am hoping to hold these things a little more closely than I have in the past. So without further ado, here are four things I learned in 2024.Want to support our podcast?
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WLSU, Useless Christmas - The Rev. Philip DeVaul

Usually this
time of year, as we prepare for Christmas I try to write something about how
you should go easy on yourself, about how the holidays are stressful enough
without you having to add to that with a lot of judgment and self-criticism. I
always make a point of saying how much I hate New Year's resolutions because,
one, you're going to fail at them anyway, and two, becoming a better person should
not actually be your main goal. And of course all of this rests in the reality
that God loves you no matter what, and it would do your heart some good to rest
in that a little bit.
But not this
year.
No, this
year the other shoe drops. You're not
working hard enough. You could be doing more. It's the end of the year and what
do you have to show for it? Did you really give it your all? If Jesus showed up
at your door today, how disappointed do you think he'd be on a scale of 1 to
10? Maybe you should be going all out to make Christmas perfect and set
yourself up for a new you in the new year. You understand that God would love
you more if you were just a better person, right?
Ok, fine, I don't actually believe any of those things. But I wonder what it felt like to hear that. Did you buy any of it?
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WLSU, After The Thing - The Rev. Philip DeVaul

We read these stories of memorable moments. We call them defining. In many ways they are. The miracles define the lives of those who experience them. And the curses - the illnesses, and deaths of which Jesus cures people - they are themselves definitive. The bleeding woman, the dying child, the dead man. Is this life defined? A collection of maladies and miracles, of blessings and curses - bullet points and highlights, the things found in an obituary.
But my life is filled with so many unmemorable moments - daily, hourly, I am doing things the details of which get forgotten almost immediately. It's the things that happens after the thing happens.
I have written and preached and spoken repeatedly about the day my father died. I have detailed at length my conversion experience on a seaside trail in Italy. I have gleaned my parents' divorce, my wedding day, and the birth of my children for sermon material. A collection of curses and miracles that I call definitive. But right now I am thinking about picking my kids up from school.
The days I've done this bleed into one another, my memory of them is an amalgamation. I don't remember any specific time I locked eyes with one of my children as they made their way out of the school building, any specific time they broke into a run toward me, any specific time they tried to knock me down with a hug. But it has happened so many times, so consistently, so unmemorably, that it has begun to define me.

WLSU, Don’t Let Go - The Rev. Philip DeVaul

11 years ago my family and I walked into a theater and watched what would become one of the most significant movies of the last several decades. Of course I'm talking about Frozen. It became the highest grossing film of that year, the highest grossing animated film up to that point, and singlehandedly re-established the cultural relevance of Disney's animated movies.
But more important than all that, Frozen brought the song "Let it Go" into the world. Everything else about Frozen's impact pales in comparison to this. "Let it Go" won an Oscar, a Grammy, and sold nearly 11million copies in one year. Even if you have never seen Frozen you have heard this song. And if you have had a child, grandchild, godchild, or are friends with anyone who has had any of these in the last decade, you know this song. It is impossible to overstate its ubiquity in our culture.
Let me step back for a moment and acknowledge the obvious. Yes, I am still a priest and this is still my religious podcast. And yes, I am an adult. And yes, in the midst of some of the most interesting and trying times in recent memory, I am here talking/writing about a Disney movie and one of its songs. Stick with me. Jesus will be here soon.
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WLSU: Work Hard. Be Kind - The Rev. Philip DeVaul

Kindness is the conscious decision to humanize the person right in front of you, to at least seek to empathize with them, to insist that they matter even when you don't want them to.
The temptation to hate is so strong. I am speaking about myself here as much as I am speaking about anyone. I do not believe kindness comes naturally when we feel threatened, when we are hurting. We are in a time of upheaval and great cultural division, fear, and animosity.
Some are grieving the results of this election, and some are celebrating - and if you look at the numbers, it's a fairly equal portion of both. We cannot say that our country is united behind Donald Trump. That would be a lie. We could not have said the country was united behind Joe Biden after his election. That's not how this works in real life. We know that politicians like to speak in sweeping terms about the electorate. I think those broad declarations about us are disingenuous - wishful thinking. "America has spoken!" they will often say. Have we? Our winner-take-all mentality insists on a narrative of unity that does not reflect our experience. And our binary thinking requires good guys and bad guys for us to be able to function. This is fertile ground for hatred to grow.
We are fractured, and the breach runs deep. I am not at all sure it is reparable. We all belong to each other, but we don't act like it, and often we don't even believe it.
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WLSU, The Days After - The Rev. Philip DeVaul

Well, this
is the last blog I will publish before the election. I am aware that nothing I
could say at this point would sway your vote one way or the other. I think most
of you who know me and have read my writing have your own guesses about how I
will vote. And I don't pretend that anything I've put out there has had much of
an influence on your vote. So I will not be using this platform to tell you for
whom you should vote, or even to tell you to vote at all.
But I am
thinking a lot about November 5th. I believe it is the most
consequential election of my lifetime so far. I care deeply about what happens.
And also, beyond casting my vote, I have no control over the outcome.
What I also
believe is that there will be a November 6th. And a November 7th.
And hopefully many days after that. And I believe that, regardless of the
outcome of the election, we will still all belong to each other. And we have
some work to do in order to act like that's true.
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