Embarrassing and terrible questions We see in others what we fear in ourselves. That’s why the second great commandment is so important. “To love the neighbor as we love ourselves” means that we must also accept in ourselves what there is about us that we don’t like, or fear, or devalue. All love starts with the way I feel about myself. If I know myself to be sincere, I never doubt anyone else’s sincerity. When I know myself to be good-willed, I assume the good will of others. When I know myself to be honest, I trust the other—not to the point of foolishness but always to the point of understanding. “It is your business,” Horace writes, “when the wall next door catches fire.” If I realize myself to be responsible for the rest of the world, as well as for myself, I can’t possibly say that whatever affects them—legislation, natural disaster, loss of resources—has nothing to do with me. This commandment asks such embarrassing questions: Do you need medical insurance? Then why wouldn’t you do something to get it for everyone else? Do you need to eat? Then why wouldn’t you see that every person in the United States is fed? Do you need an education? Then why would you begrudge the tax money it takes to provide a good education for everyone today? See what I mean? Terrible questions. To intersect with another person’s life in any way—as a sales clerk, a doorkeeper, a bus driver, a nurse, a receptionist, a telephone operator, a professional—is to change their lives that day. So the great commandment says to us always, How did you affect someone’s life today? –from The Ten Commandments: Laws of the Heart by Joan Chittister (Orbis)
Posted on: Mon, 08 Sep 2014 15:08:51 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015