Loving You….

Last Updated on Wednesday, 14 April 2010 12:39 Written by MP Concierge Sunday, 14 February 2010 12:35

When the scriptures speak of loving our neighbor as we love ourselves, there is a profound underlying message…that we are incapable of loving others without the prerequisite of self-love.

Then we hit a roadblock. Not all of who we are is easily lovable. We have darkness–a shadow if you will, that only shows when we are standing in the light. It’s the side of us that often no one else sees, and we are unaware of until the darkness creeps into our lives. But we must love that shadow.

It comes out subtly in our conversation, hidden between our words and as an undercurrent to our actions. But we must love that subtlety.

It betrays our best intentions and exposes our heart at the worst of times. It pulls back the veil that once hid our base desires and addictive nature. But we must love that betrayal.

We have to love that part of us because that part is in all of us…and if we hate it in ourselves we will no doubt identify it and hate it when we see it in others–our neighbors.

Hence we have wars, because the war began in us and we found it in others.

But there is a balance in this conflict that only takes place when we accept that shadow for what it is, and love that part of us anyway. There is an enemy who would want us to loathe just a part of ourselves so the seed of war can be nurtured. But we don’t have to go that road. We must love ourselves.

So isn’t it time to let our light and our shadow play together? Love the whole you. Only then can we really love the entirety of those around us. It’s a tough thing to learn.

Take a moment and pause to think about the people you have the hardest time loving…and then look inside yourself and ask–is that in me?

It’s a powerful exercise.

We are called to accept and love ourselves so we can be vessels of love to our world.

And maybe then we can study war no more.