An Unreasonable Love
Christ’s parable of the vineyard workers describes a man who arrives in a vineyard late in the day, and yet he’s given the same amount of pay for his brief labor as those who have been hard at work since dawn.
Christ explains that in the world to come (or in the world that already exists invisibly within this one), “those who are last shall be first, and the first last.” (Matthew 20:16) This doesn’t seem fair though, or just. And that’s precisely what the parable is meant to do; it’s meant to get us all caught up in our ego so that we can recognize it and release it.
If we really focus on what’s fair according to the ego in the context of this parable, we get tied up in feeling as if we’re being cheated or betrayed. The ego tries to reason – how can I be paid the same as this last-minute laborer, when I worked all day?
We think this laborer, who only just showed up as the work was almost over, will take what we would have received. According to the ego, what others get, we miss out on. There isn’t a concept of plenty, only lack and scarcity. As an ego, as a mortal self, we are limited. We only have so much time here; we only have so many resources.
The ego can’t conceive of an unconditional love that isn’t concerned with what’s “fair” when it comes to who can receive it.
The treasure is for everyone who shows up.
Whether we’ve only just started the work now, or we’ve been laboring in the name of love for our entire lives, love is here for all of us. Equally. Love operates on a system that’s limitless, and this feels entirely unfair to the ego.
And when we realize this, that when it comes to love, “the last shall be first and the first last,” the ego is released. And what had felt like a painful betrayal, or an unjust situation, expands into something new. We can let go of the fear that there isn’t enough love-gold to go around. We can let go of the fear that we have to earn it or prove we’re worthy of it. We can let go of the fear that we could do something that would render us unable to receive it.
We can accept love for what it is: unreasonable. Love is an unreasonable abundance.
The Alpha is the first letter in the Greek alphabet, and the Omega is the last. In one sense, they’re the furthest apart from each other. In another, if the alphabet is not linear but cyclical, then one comes right after the other. They’re side by side, the first and the last.
So, this is the practice: first, we keep recognizing and releasing the ego, which means having massive amounts of mercy on ourselves and others. Then in humility, we keep reaching the Omega point, so we can rise again, which means starting over, or again, with an unreasonable love.
With only more love,
M.
Artwork by Donna Outtrim, @moonjube
THE HOUSE OF MARY MAGDALENE
A Spiritual Community of Radical Love
From September 2022 through May 2023, we'll meet together live on Zoom to study the scripture from the earliest form of Christianity which emphasizes the radical love that exists within every one of us. And we'll practice together the soul-voice meditation, an ancient practice of going inward, which allows us to experience and witness the fullness of what it means to be human.
Visit our website to learn more and register.