So the funny thing is about all this hurting and worry and craziness going on in this country right now is the answer to all of it has been right in front of us all along.
It's something we all know and have heard our whole entire lives. Some may have heard it more than others. Some may have only heard versions of it.
The answer was written over 2,000 years ago. Over 2,000 years before the world in which we face tragic news stories all too often. A world which knew violence as well. Maybe this world was not too different from our own. The overarching similarity is our humanity. In every person is the ability to love.
The answer to all of this hurting, all of this hate, and all of this fear is in the two greatest commandments. "Love the Lord God with all your heart, mind and soul. And love your neighbor as yourself."
The first commandment eliminates fear, fills us with peace and arms us with the bravery it takes to truly love your neighbor as yourself. I think we'd better pay close attention to these two commandments now more than ever. They are the answer right in front of us.
So how do we truly enter in and love our neighbor as our self? Because if we all did love our neighbors - all people of the world - then how could the current state of the world continue to exist? It cannot. It is illogical. You cannot have both. You cannot have hatred and fear and division if you have love.
How do we truly love those we don't understand? Those who are different from us? Those who make us feel uncomfortable? Those we don't agree with? How do we become agents of love? How do we have true, undeniable compassion? We must find out. Because friends, the answers to these questions are essential. We must find the answers and live them. This is quite possibly the most important thing we can do as citizens of this country right now. To become agents of active love. To truly love our neighbor as ourselves.
Acting love is a hard thing. It's much easier to not do it. To settle in comfortably and love those who are easy to love - not my neighbor, but my household. I need help to figure out how to love my neighbor as myself. I decided to seek out a teacher - someone who is famous for loving her neighbor and showing compassion.
I love quotes. I am absolutely obsessed with signs, pillows, and journals with cool sayings on them. I love to browse through, but it takes a lot for me to find one to commit to a wall. I hung a sign in my kitchen which says, " Do small things with great love." I could totally relate to this sign because I go through my whole day doing small things. But it's harder to do them with any sort of love let alone great love. My sister told me Mother Teresa said this quote. That pretty much stuck with me.
I have decided to read Mother Teresa's book No Greater Love. Who better (other than the original himself) to learn about how to do love in life than her? She feels like a symbolic mother of humanity. I will read her book and I will challenge myself to learn how to radically love my neighbor.
Will you join me?
Because friends, we have to do something.
It's something we all know and have heard our whole entire lives. Some may have heard it more than others. Some may have only heard versions of it.
The answer was written over 2,000 years ago. Over 2,000 years before the world in which we face tragic news stories all too often. A world which knew violence as well. Maybe this world was not too different from our own. The overarching similarity is our humanity. In every person is the ability to love.
The answer to all of this hurting, all of this hate, and all of this fear is in the two greatest commandments. "Love the Lord God with all your heart, mind and soul. And love your neighbor as yourself."
The first commandment eliminates fear, fills us with peace and arms us with the bravery it takes to truly love your neighbor as yourself. I think we'd better pay close attention to these two commandments now more than ever. They are the answer right in front of us.
So how do we truly enter in and love our neighbor as our self? Because if we all did love our neighbors - all people of the world - then how could the current state of the world continue to exist? It cannot. It is illogical. You cannot have both. You cannot have hatred and fear and division if you have love.
How do we truly love those we don't understand? Those who are different from us? Those who make us feel uncomfortable? Those we don't agree with? How do we become agents of love? How do we have true, undeniable compassion? We must find out. Because friends, the answers to these questions are essential. We must find the answers and live them. This is quite possibly the most important thing we can do as citizens of this country right now. To become agents of active love. To truly love our neighbor as ourselves.
Acting love is a hard thing. It's much easier to not do it. To settle in comfortably and love those who are easy to love - not my neighbor, but my household. I need help to figure out how to love my neighbor as myself. I decided to seek out a teacher - someone who is famous for loving her neighbor and showing compassion.
I love quotes. I am absolutely obsessed with signs, pillows, and journals with cool sayings on them. I love to browse through, but it takes a lot for me to find one to commit to a wall. I hung a sign in my kitchen which says, " Do small things with great love." I could totally relate to this sign because I go through my whole day doing small things. But it's harder to do them with any sort of love let alone great love. My sister told me Mother Teresa said this quote. That pretty much stuck with me.
I have decided to read Mother Teresa's book No Greater Love. Who better (other than the original himself) to learn about how to do love in life than her? She feels like a symbolic mother of humanity. I will read her book and I will challenge myself to learn how to radically love my neighbor.
Will you join me?
Because friends, we have to do something.
We have to learn to take love seriously. It's essential.
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