Love Thy Neighbour

At one point or the other no matter a person's choice of faith, we all have come across this phrase..."Love your neighbour as yourself". But how many of us have taken time out to truly reflect on the actual meaning of this golden rule?

As humans, it is natural to love oneself. Self-love is the best love, they say. We usually think about ourselves and will always consider our own interests ahead of every other person's. Although altruism, empathy, selflessness and all that may come into play once in a while, unless of course a person is a sadist, a person's individual interest still tops his priorities.

As evident as it is that a person's interest supersedes all others, it is important to note that an individual cannot exist in solitude. We need others. We need to interact with our surroundings; the society. A farmer cannot exist on his farm produce only. A banker will not eat money. The fashion designer will not wear all the clothes he makes himself... the list goes on and on. This is where loving one's neighbour comes in.

Let us consider the society in its entirety as an ecosystem. Each and every individual is a member of the ecosystem and apparently, has a role to play in the system. We need to realize that we all exist to be of assistance and support to one another at different points in time.

No one has it all, no one owns it all, and no one knows it all.

But wait, there’s something that needs to be spelled out.

Love.

What does 'love' mean in the expression Love Thy Neighbor?

Obviously, we’re not expected to have a close and personal relationship with  everyone. 

What are we supposed to do?

The kind of love we’re talking about, here, is impersonal, unconditional love. It’s the kind of love that has more to do with the Greek word agape and nothing at all to do with eros.  In fact, it’s a kind of attitude that we can have toward people that we don’t normally think of as love.  It’s the capacity to treat each human being with kindness, compassion, patience, forgiveness, and respect.  It’s the attitude that empowers us to think of all souls as creations of God.  It is motivated and generated by love for God, rather than by our attraction to any particular person.   It is sometimes given other names: charity or goodwill.

Impersonal love doesn’t depend on a personal relationship. You don’t even have to know a person’s name to extend impersonal love to him or her.  All you have to do is recognize that the person, just like you, was made by God. The person has the right to be here, and the right to do as he chooses, even if he is making some bad choices. This doesn’t mean we should let him out of jail if he’s committed a crime.  It doesn’t mean we don’t have to protect our children from him if he’s a convicted child molester.  It does mean that we have to treat him fairly, with basic courtesy, and without discriminating against him.

Impersonal love means allowing people the right to worship as they please, and that means allowing houses of worship of different faiths to be built in your own local community, whether or not you agree with the tenets of their faith.

It means allowing people to live where they wish to, as long as they can afford it, and that means allowing people of all different cultures and ethnicities, races, religions, creeds, and sexual orientations to live near you, even if you don’t necessarily feel comfortable associating with them socially.

It means allowing people to work where they wish to, as long as they have the skill set required to do the work, and that means equal pay for equal work, regardless of the person’s race, gender, sexual orientation or physical condition.

It means fairness under the law, and that means ending racial profiling, ethnic profiling, gender profiling, and profiling based on sexual orientation.

It also means allowing ethnic groups the right to pass on their own unique cultural values, heritage and language to their children without having to give these things up in favor of blending into mainstream culture, just because it would make you more comfortable if they weren’t so different.

The importance of sharing and spreading love cannot be over-emphasized.

Love Thy Neighbour…

Thy Homeless Neighbour

Thy Muslim Neighbour

Thy Black Neighbour

Thy Gay Neighbour

Thy White Neighbour

Thy Jewish Neighbour

Thy Christian Neighbour

Thy Atheist Neighbour

Thy Racist Neighbour

Thy Addicted Neighbour.

It's Taophieyc!