The Plot is Love

Author: isabellewerner

  • The Whore, The Christ

    The Whore, The Christ

    Saint Augustine once said:

    “The Church may be a whore, but she’s my mother.”

    Why is the Church a whore and a mother?

    Why isn’t the Church an abuser and a Father?

    A hater and a lover?

    A sick institution and a room full of good-hearted people?

    Why can’t the Church be twins that disagree constantly?

    Or a table of philosophers at a cafe, reading the same thing differently?

    Rather than face our paradoxes, we place them on her. We plaster her with big letters. 

    The dripping paint reads:

    “She’s a woman.

    A woman must carry all the goodness and all the badness, all the confusion and all the sadness.”

    Meanwhile, men continue to repeat and rewrite history with their strained eyes and calloused hands.

    If the Church is a whore it’s because they all raped her

    If the Church is a whore it’s because no one saved her

    If the Church is a whore it’s because they all chained her

    If the Church is a whore it’s because we created a monster

    And expected her to be very pleasant

    And very nice

    Ever kind ever submissive ever wise

    And ever able to carry whatever we placed

    On her back

    We expected her to carry it all up the hill

    Without her back breaking, without falling ill

    When she cannot hold it and screeches out in pain

    We send her away and call her insane

    If the Church is a whore it’s because she’s not a virgin

    If the Church is a whore it’s because we haven’t learned yet

    That these labels placed on her is not who she is

    They are taglines that help us justify

    These cycles

    These judgements

    They go something like this:

    “How dare this generation be spiritual and not religious.

    Don’t they know they need us?

    They need this whore.”

    “If our scapegoat is set free,

    There is nothing left to sacrifice, 

    Nothing left to blame,

    Nothing left for us to gain.”

    “So release Barabbas, and give us the Christ.

    We will enrobe her in silks and sashes and scepters,

    Only to spit on her

    And call her

    A whore.”

  • Is Empathy a Sin?

    Is Empathy a Sin?

    Pharisees have been promoting an alternative. They state: “Empathy is good, in moderation. But! Too much empathy can lead us further from the truth. Lo, beware of putting yourself in someone’s shoes superfluously. This candor and credulous nature precedes the downfall of your conviction – of understanding borders, of holy sex, of proper living.”

    The groans from the hearts of the fleeing, jailed, hungry, and dying echo the folklore of their ancestors. Stories of real, prevailing, truth. Not manufactured truth to serve a place or a time. Not lab-grown-truth to serve the newest king who claims sanctity. The catacombs where we are buried utter this:

    Lay children of the Earth, the leaves of the branches, of the trunk, of the roots, of the soil, of the dust, of the crust, of the core, of the fire, of the light,

    I want to speak to you plainly.

    To my fellow sacred beings, I wish to never twist sacred integrity and uprightness into the worshiping of false idols, fake ideals, fetishes of power and clout, persecution and arrogance.

    Empathy is revealing things to us. Let’s call them ‘virtuous longings’ as the word ‘truth’ has been stolen and sold for thirty pieces of silver. 

    Empathy is changing us. 

    What if empathy is not just a spiritual exercise of the heart, but a call, through these virtuous longings, to movement, alertness, and awareness. If our hearts are holy, our hands and feet ought to be holy too.

    If your heart feels empathy for another, you have a chest of pearls and pedals to be shared. Do not hoard your gifts away, do not hide your light under a bushel basket. Gifts are meant to be shared. Love is meant to overflow. That overflow is called action – inclusivity of others, protection of the vulnerable, longer tables, and shorter fences. Soft hearts are not weak, they are flexible and malleable to fit others inside.

    True empathy is allowing yourself to be changed, for I know from the depths of my soul, that empathy is not static. Just as the bells ring with vigor, so does love.

    Love moves, grows, and shakes. It admits failings and wrongs. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered. Love never fails. True, abiding, fearless, and yes, empathetic love, never fails to move and be moved.

    The Lion must abide with the Lamb. The Judge must have its Jury. What is life if we persecute others, and in doing so, persecute ourselves? If we believe in freedom and love in heaven and not on earth, we are a fallen people already. 

    Empathy is not a sin, it is a spiritual gift. Just like speaking in tongues, prophesy, holy laughter, fortitude, and patience.

    Generations before us, pharisees asked when the kingdom of God would come to a thirty-something, scrappy fisherman. He replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst…On earth as it is in heaven.”