A very interesting comment on my last post made me write this response.Here is what “Don’t Feed The Pixies” said:
“An interesting post - because what I really, really want from my physical neighbour is to be left alone to get on with my life.
I have no particular need to be their friend or to be involved in their life and my approach to "love thy neighbour" is to give them that opportunity to live their life the way they want to”
Love is an expression of freedom.
Love is unconditional.
If you love some one you set them free, you do not chain them up.
If you love some one, you love them without expecting anything in return.
Other wise what you have is not love but just another dysfunctional relationship.
Here is a little example of what “love thy neighbor” is not:
USA invasion of Iraq in the name of democracy.
USA totally ignorance of the genocide in Darfur, Sudan.
Forcing ones values, life stile or beliefs on somebody else is not love, it is totally the opposite.
Ignoring somebody’s suffering and turning your head the other way is not love either.
Let me ask you this:
If you would see your neighbor house on fire or being robed by burglars would you call 911 or ignore it and not get involved?
If your house was on fire or robed would you like your neighbors to call 911 or would you like them not to get involved?
There is a fine line between letting some one be free and ignoring some one.
Give your neighbor freedom but do not ignore them.
Say hi to them and give them a chance to know you.
You do not have to get “personal” or “intimate” with your neighbor to be a good neighbor.
I guess “Love thy neighbor as you love yourself” meaning is not in the “love” part but in the “as you love yourself” part.
Treat your neighbors like you would like to be treated.
Being part of the social fabric is a fine and it seems to me lost art.
Having some one next to you in your moment of despair is the greatest blessing one can have.
If you have ever lost some one you love, or your job or your health, there is nothing more comforting more uplifting than somebody that tells you “Do not worry, I am here with you”
You can write the best book in the world, it will mean nothing if nobody reads it.
You can compose the most sublime music in the world; it means nothing if nobody hears it.
You can have the greatest success, victory or accomplishment and it will mean nothing if you have nobody to share that joy.
Yes we need our “neighbors” yes we need our family members and our friends.
Maybe not all of them, maybe not the ass holes we can not stand, but we need to do a better job on this, we need to treat each other better because we are in this together.
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5 comments:
Unconditional Love is easier on the lover then it is on the loved. People seem to find unexpected return difficult to deal with. I know I feel much better if I'm doing the loving. I just recently notice that loving someone unconditionally brought conflict to their life. Even though I never looked at the deposits and withdraws from the love bank they did. I fond myself doing a major disservice to the ones I love by keeping them in dept. Even though you may feel repayment is unnecessary, you could be causing great conflict on their karma by keeping them in dept. I still struggle finding the line between loving and giving room to grow.
People would appreciate life a lot more if love were a limited resource and came in discrete quantities just like everything else, right?
You chart needs to end with, "Love Mom."
@ Flight - The only reason they feel uncomfortable receiving unconditional love it is because they are withholding love.
Tell them - God loves you a million time more deep and more unconditional then I - do you refuse his love because of that?
@ Quantum - Love comes in the quantity you allow it to come :)
@ Ted - You can complete the chart in many ways. God, Jesus, Buddha, of course Mom or Ted...
My house might catch on fire if my neighbors houses caught on fire. I would call the fire department if I knew what their number was, so instead I would call 911 because it is easier to remember. If there was a burglar in the neighbors houses then I would steal their car battery and steal the liscense plate before they come back out.
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