where love exists

A nation as such cannot be the object of supernatural love. It has no soul.

That's Simone Weil again. And she points to something there that I've observed before about all institutions--we can't have a personal relationship, a love relationship with them, because they are not persons. They have no soul.

In our modern world we tend to see ourselves in terms of our collective "relationships": as members of corporations, churches, organizations, nations. But if I reject that and resist that, what's left? Personal relationships. I don't want to "fit in," become part of some humanly created and defined collective (the one, unique Community, the body of Christ, is something altogether different--as I wrote in "that they may all be one" and "Is Christ divided?"). But I do want to connect with other people in personal relationship. Person to person, soul to soul. Though this is fragile and unstructured, this is where love exists.

When Jesus was asked what "love your neighbor" means, he told the story of the Good Samaritan, a personal act of mercy. Love felt and expressed between two persons. This is "love your neighbor." And "love God" is also personal...

This is what I need to focus on. Not membership in groups, not finding a place in (or establishing) institutions, but being attentive and responding to the persons I come into relationship with. This is where love exists.