And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:37-39)
Today brings up two concepts that seem almost countercultural. First is “command.” We don’t like commands. We only live once and want to live our truth, live our best life, feed our souls, do what feels right to us. So the idea of a command, to me, feels a little like a bridle on a wild horse. I don’t want to be told what to do.
And then there is the concept of loving God and loving others. This is not a natural thing for me to do, at least on a focused, consistent basis.
See, I am an expert at loving myself, or at least focusing on myself. Even in my times of deepest depression, when I’ve hated myself—particularly in those times, actually—I can almost drown in the self.
I am an introvert and a reflective, “writerly” type, and those are good things to be, but I can’t make them an excuse for selfishness and not being receptive to others’ needs. It’s easy to fall into that pattern.
I have some wonderful neighbors who have helped me to come out of my inward-focused little world of self in the past couple of years. I feel so blessed to have so many people right here in my little neighborhood whom I care about, and who care about me. The neighborhood kids in this picture helped me celebrate my 50th birthday in February. I love every one of these kids as if they’re my own.
It is not easy to follow commands that force me to get out of my own self-centered head. But it’s been easier with these kids, and their parents, in my life.
Today brings up two concepts that seem almost countercultural. First is “command.” We don’t like commands. We only live once and want to live our truth, live our best life, feed our souls, do what feels right to us. So the idea of a command, to me, feels a little like a bridle on a wild horse. I don’t want to be told what to do.
And then there is the concept of loving God and loving others. This is not a natural thing for me to do, at least on a focused, consistent basis.
See, I am an expert at loving myself, or at least focusing on myself. Even in my times of deepest depression, when I’ve hated myself—particularly in those times, actually—I can almost drown in the self.
I am an introvert and a reflective, “writerly” type, and those are good things to be, but I can’t make them an excuse for selfishness and not being receptive to others’ needs. It’s easy to fall into that pattern.
I have some wonderful neighbors who have helped me to come out of my inward-focused little world of self in the past couple of years. I feel so blessed to have so many people right here in my little neighborhood whom I care about, and who care about me. The neighborhood kids in this picture helped me celebrate my 50th birthday in February. I love every one of these kids as if they’re my own.
It is not easy to follow commands that force me to get out of my own self-centered head. But it’s been easier with these kids, and their parents, in my life.
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