Brian’s Reflection: Thursday, February 7, 2008


There is a law that man should love his neighbor as himself.
In a few hundred years it should be as natural to mankind
as breathing or the upright gait; but if he does not learn it
he must perish.

- Alfred Adler, doctor & psychologist, born on this day, 1870


Well, I’m glad that Dr. Adler and Jesus (and the Jewish scriptures) are in agreement. And I appreciate Dr. Adler’s optimism! It has been at least three to four millennia or so, and we don’t seem to have learned it yet. But! We are still here. Maybe the pressure to learn it is getting more intense?

Is the underlying problem that we hate ourselves? I tend to think that this is a huge part of it. Lying, or avoiding the truth, is a sign of self-hate, I think. It’s like the process we go through in the Episcopal Church to find a new pastor. Both sides lie. The Parish Profile is most often a huge fantasy. And the clergyperson basically says what they think the Search Committee wants to hear. No surprise that a year later, many parishes and priests are parting company or in terrible conflict, wondering what happened. We seem to forget that, if we did love ourselves, we would be honest and realistic. (This happens in most other areas of Life, in business, etc. Religion isn’t alone.)

The Gospel has a lot of Wisdom it would do well to pay attention to, no matter who we are or what, if any, religious path. Jesus finally said (in, I think, a kind of frustrated simplicity), Look: just love one another as I have loved you”. He loved/loves humankind as His God did/does. Unconditionally. Accepting our frailty and weakness. Finding countless ways to affirm and encourage us towards love and goodness and reality, without violating our freedom. As I understand the Gospel, we are to love ourselves as God loves us, all warts showing. And that’s how we are to love our neighbours.

Bottom line: we are loveable. Our “neighbour” is loveable.

Let’s get with the program. Breathe; stand upright; love self and neighbour. Personally, I won’t start with Peter Akinola, Jack Iker, or George Bush. I’ll set my sites a little lower (myself) and work up!

We could keep the opposite going for probably more than a few centuries. But who really wants or needs all that hell?

Brian+