Love in Our World
Jesus brought Love into the world. We should emulate Him. I don’t mean that we have to literally die on a cross to bring this to others; however, we can allow our materiality-driven existence to wither away to nothing, and instead, adopt a life of service to others. Think of the advantages that would be realized by giving up a minor physical luxury and giving the money we would spend on that to a cause that would benefit our less advantaged brothers and sisters.
In our life of Keeping up with the Joneses, we feel that we must have the greenest lawn, the largest SUV in our driveway, and the 66” curved-screen tv, displayed so that the neighbors can see our affluence.
No, we cannot give up these luxuries; we are too programmed to do that. But, if we scaled down just one of these and gave the money to a cause to help a person living on the streets, or a family of 4 who cannot afford fresh vegetables, that money would go a long way helping these people.
To paraphrase Isaiah, the ox knows its master, and the donkey its manger, but we do not know, nor do we understand. We are weighed down by injustice and act atrociously; we have abandoned Love. We have abandoned respect for each other, respect for ourselves. We need to defend the poor, help them achieve a level of living that is worthy of a human being, worthy of a brother or sister, worthy of a child of God.
The choice is ours to make; God will love us regardless of our actions. But will we really love ourselves. Love’s self-offering means that we love ourselves; after all, didn’t Jesus mention that when he told us to love others as we love ourselves. We do not take the teachings of morality in the Bible seriously; I’m not talking about religion. That is the culture we are forced to be a participant. We can change it.
Meditating to Heal 