LOVE versus LAW

St. Moses the black, an early Christian saint of Egypt was already known during his lifetime as a very ascetic, humble and holy man by his fellow beings.

Once – during the time of fasting – it occurred that hermits saw smoke coming out of the little hermitage of Moses. They thought “how is that possible? He is always saying he lives an ascetic life, he almost eats and drinks nothing… and now, what do we see? We see smoke coming out of his cottage… he is cooking. He is breaking the law.”

A few days later one of the hermits dared to mention to Moses the smoke that he had seen coming out of the simple hermitage “ Moses, how come you cook? How come especially during this Christian time of fasting? How come you do something and teach us something else?”

Moses the black replied “Dear hermit, two travelers came from far apart. They were full of the dust of the street and hungry. So I invited them into my little hermitage. I gave them shelter and prepared them some food. To not let them be ashamed, I ate with them”

What are laws, rules and regulations for? To help us live in the right way, also concerning the needs of the others. If law prohibits us from doing acts of love, than didn’t the law loose its meaning?

Love is the highest power in the universe. Sometimes doesn’t it seem difficult for us, to know what to do? So we want to cling to the known laws and rules. But isn’t it always good to differentiate anew, to ask yourself, what is the highest law – LOVE – and what would that selfless love lead me to do in the according situation?

Love.

Special thanks to my dear friend Father Antonius, a Coptic monk from the Coptic orthodox monastery of Jerusalem. He opened my eyes anew with this story, in a moment when I wanted to hold on to my self-imposed rules instead of choosing an act of love…

He told me the story because of the following context:

I refused a glass of coffee, offered by him, I told him that would be my “sacrifice” in the time of the fasting for God. (I love coffee and honestly feel quite addicted to it…) In this moment it was more important to accept the offered gift of Abuna Antonius than holding on to “fulfilling” the rule.
If I would have fulfilled the rule, whom would I have pleased most? God?! Certainly not. He doesn’t like me more or less because of drinking coffee or not. But maybe with such an attitude I would hurt my fellow being. And doesn’t God also reside in him?!

GOD, help us to distinguish wisely and when looking at the world and circumstances within and around us, let us perceive it with your eyes of love.