February 9

Today is the feast day of Saint Maron, founder of the Maronite church, who died on this day in the year 410. Maron was a Syrian hermit and mystic who patterned his life after Saint Anthony of the desert, and was responsible for the spread of Christianity in Syria and Lebanon. He healed and counseled both Christians and non-Christians. 

Today also marks the anniversary of the 1907 “Mud March” at Hyde Park in London, the largest demonstration for women’s suffrage to that point. Three-thousand women participated in spite of the terrible weather. A year and a half later, more than a hundred times as many people participated in a women’s suffrage rally in the same place, a testimony to the power of perseverance in our struggle for liberation for all creatures. 

Today is also the birthday of John Cobb, process theologian, who was born in 1925 and died in 2024. His insights into the connections between environmentalism, Buddhism, and Christian theology are powerful tools for seekers of peace and justice today. 

Reflection: 

Maron said: 

While speaking of Christianity as “love for all humanity” sounds almost cliche, it is important to emphasize the impartial love that Christ commands. Jesus Christ tells his disciples to let their love be distributed impartially “like rain and sunshine” falling on people indiscriminately, even on people we do not like (see Matthew 5:45-46: “If you love only those who love you, what reward do you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same?”). This contrasts sharply with recent pseudo-spiritual statements by the U.S. Vice-President, which suggest a hierarchy of love based on proximity to his own self-interest. 

John Cobb said: 

He also wrote: 

Prayer: God who creates by connecting, you have woven all beings, all energy and matter, into one interconnected web. Our separation from each other and from You is largely an illusion. Help us to live according to this interconnectedness, because our very lives depend upon it. Amen.