Making this choice is not easy. Even the surrender must be constantly renewed, or the difficulty of both challenging evil and remaining wholly nonviolent will be too much to bear. But I am slowly, grudgingly, coming to accept that this is the only way to truly challenge the many inequities of our age. I am becoming convinced that following the commandment to love my neighbor means adopting some form of ethical eschatology, believing in it and living it. If this is the case, love is not the pastel, privatized word that our culture has made it.
Love is about boldly and fiercely, yet gently and peacefully, seeking justice.
And love of neighbor is not an abstraction, but is inherent in every single decision we make. Every time we challenge injustice on any level, we are acting in love, and every time we let stand the hundred thousand ways that people are demeaned or unduly privileged, we are not taking up the work that is before us. If this is love, it will be the toughest demand that is ever made on us. But if God is love, God will be present in our actions, supporting us every step of the way. Apocalyptic eschatology is so very tempting, but it is both arrogant and resentful, and it doesn't hope or endure things very well, insisting as it does on having its own way.