|
Today's
Meditation:
The underlying message here is very clear: if we
spend our time loving others, then we will live well
without really needing to put effort into it. If we
focus on giving what we can to others, helping them as
much as we can, being there for them, loving them without
condition, then we're bound to have a full and happy life.
Sometimes I find that my best days are those during which
I've spent my time focused on a goal or a task that is
very important to me, something that keeps me so occupied
that I don't give any attention at all to what I should
"do" with my day. But because I've given
my all to something important, that day turned out
beautifully, better than I ever could have made it turn
out as the result of effort.
Love can be like that. When we realize that love is
an action, that it does take effort, we then find
ourselves facing the question of just how much effort we
should put into it. Usually, it's about making
decisions based on the question, "What would love do
now?" What would a loving, caring person do in
this situation? How would that person act, and what
would the desired result be? How can I give in a
loving way so that the people in my life know that I do
love them, even if the word "love" is never
used?
"I want to love first." This is an amazing
call, an idea that makes so much sense that it's almost
frightening that we don't hear it more often. If our
focus is on loving others-- and do we remember "love
thy neighbor as thyself"?-- then we can expect to find
our lives falling softly and clearly into place as we put
our attention and effort into the love that we share with
the world.
|
|
Questions to
consider:
How can we start to "love first, and live
incidentally"?
Why do most of us focus on achieving and doing rather than
on loving?
What are some of the potential problems that can arise
from neglecting to love the other people with whom we
share the world, and the world itself?
|
