True Love Takes Time

And Jesus said, “and the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ This begs two questions: do we love ourselves and do we understand what Jesus means. I’m not sure that I can answer either of these two questions. Only you can.

Just as the pace of God’s Love grows in us each morning as we rise for the new day determines how much the element of spiritual love will shine throughout the day. This spirituality will express itself through the love we show our fellow man, from those we work with to those we pass on the street begging for a handout.

Which one is our neighbor, and which one is ourself? Are we the neighbor who is sitting at a desk closing a business deal, or standing in front of a classroom filled with young mind, all because our parents were wealthy enough to send us to a college allowing us to get a good job saving us from standing on a street corner begging for a handout?

What is the difference between us and that person who begs for a handout on the corner? Is there a difference? Is he me? Am I him? Can I love him as myself? Can he love me as himself? Are we neighbors? Are we one in the same, separated only by economic standards? Are we truly equal because we are both hands of God?

It takes a long time to think about things like this. It takes even longer to try to understand things like this. Finally, we realize that the only answer is that God is the only one that truly knows and if we love God, truly love God, we love our neighbor, we love ourselves, because God creates us both in love and grace. And with love, we are all equal in God’s realm. We are the poor urchin standing, begging on the corner; we are that person ignored by society, punished because he did not get the education that we were given; we are his neighbor who we love as ourselves; we both are God’s love, as one. . . forever. I love you neighbor!