When the Christ stood upon those Ancient hills and asked us all to love God and one another as ourselves, I wonder how many people then, were just as perplexed as now and wondered “What does that mean, really?”
2000 years later, people everywhere are still asking themselves what and who
God is and how best to employ the concept of love into daily thinking, feeling and doing.
I do indeed Love being alive, and I must say, I attribute that to God, my Maker, Creator; He, She, It, whatever you like. I think though, that Loving would perhaps be easier to take in baby steps; easier to manage, easier to teach the young, easier to understand the process.
Kindness, for me, is about all I can consistently manage, one step that I know is a reflection of love. As I may not be up to the mark on loving everyone, I can at least have a ‘kindne
ss practice’ going on. And I say practice because that is what it takes: practice, consistently and constantly and sometimes, it seems no less daunting than loving. However, it seems easier somehow to be kind to myself when I can’t love myself and it certainly is easier to remember to be kind to someone else when love is the farthest thing from my mind. After all, God did make some folk to ‘earn our wings’ by.
Kids especially need easy to understand instructions when they are little: “Be nice to someone who’s having a bad day; someday, you may need some extra kindness too”. The love talk can come later in quiet moments when they are receptive, warm, safe and sleepy. It seeps into the consciousness and reminds them who they really are.
I like Kindness because it is an active state of participation that demands careful thought and it omits gossip, the ‘devil’s tongue’ in action; it makes us take a breath before we speak and gives us pause to contemplate result. It keeps us from doing harm.
