Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love) relates an account of a woman who came to Sri Ramakrishna, an Indian saint, fearing that she did not love God enough. “And then the saint said, ‘Is there nothing you love?’ The woman admitted that she loved her nephew. And the saint said, ‘There then. He is your Krishna, your beloved. In service to your nephew, you are serving God.’”
Love of our neighbor, and love of God are so closely intwined that it is almost impossible to talk of one without talking about the other. Jesus teaches that all the ‘law and the prophets’ can be summarized in the two great commandments to love God and love your neighbor. When asked who our neighbor is, Christ relates the parable of the good Samaritan (who saved a man beaten and robbed by thieves), instructing his listeners to “go and do likewise.”
King Benjamin, a prophet in the Book of Mormon, says it this way, “. . . when ye in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God.”
Jesus’ concept of love goes far beyond what is comfortable. He makes it clear that loving those that are easy to love is no big deal, “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven . . .” Leo Babauta of Zen Habits talks about why this is an important concept even if you aren’t Christian and offers 10 tips for life’s greatest challenge.
What is the best way to serve our fellow beings? I think we need to recognize the strengths that God has uniquely given each of us as an individuals, make an investment in ourselves to develop those strengths and then use those strengths to serve our fellow beings. That is a life’s work.
A life’s work centered in love will encompass:
- A ‘healthy’ love of self . . . do you give time to develop your physical, spiritual and intellectual health?
- Expressing love and gratitude to God for the gifts you have been blessed with in your life by loving your neighbors (family, friends, enemies, and those that need your help).
Why have I been fixated on love for the past little while? As I said in the first part of this series, it is so easy to get caught up in worrying about the future that we somehow miss living today. Anyway, that is how I feel most of the time and I want to get off that treadmill. The promise is that if we will focus on love then the rest will take care of itself. I don’t know that I’ve ever really put that promise to the test . . . I’ve let life, and the future, distract me. I want to commit to making love central to my life.
Coming soon! My concrete goals to love more to live more.
All three parts of this series:
