If it can be purely given (i.e. without selfish motives and free from personal hopes & expectations), then LOVE always “saves” in the moment it is Given … Allow me to explain.

Essentially, all forms of behavioral dysfunction are born in — and sustained by — the fearful, primitive, self-centered instincts of our reptile brain. Unconditional Love, on the other hand, is primarily perceived limibically (i.e. by the limbic system). This “Heart Brain” perceives interactions independently from our higher brain’s mere thinking or our lower brain’s mere feeling. As such, when Love is purely given, it always circumvents the fear of the one to whom we give it, and thereby always arrives right where we intend it to land — even if only for a moment, right at center of their Heart.

And why is this so important? Well, far more often than not, folks refuse to show Kindness to the “bad people” in their lives, primarily because they have been conditioned to believe the lie that such deeds of courageous Caring will not work — that they won’t make anything better.

And yet the Truth of the matter is a simple one: Kindness is always possible, Kindness always “works”, and Kindness is always “worth it” … Even if we do not perceive an immediate “improvement” in the other, we can know that our Kindness HAS indeed reached its destination, that it HAS indeed brought them a glimmer of Peace, that it HAS indeed briefly awoken them to who they were as children and who they could become again, and that it HAS indeed guaranteed that this ultimate Awakening will indeed come — and that it will come much sooner than it would have had we done nothing for them at all.

“Love” is easy — and therefore weak — when given to those treating us well. And yet LOVE is difficult — and therefore POWER-full — when we give it to those who are treating us poorly; to those “least deserving” of it.

And it is this latter LOVE that Humanity needs now more than ever; it is this latter LOVE — and only this latter LOVE — that will ultimately save us from extinction. And how can we put it into practice? By simply reaching out to all the people we fear — all the strangers, all the homeless, all the unpopular, all the “weird” … and all our enemies.

And when we do so, it is critical to remember that we are dealing with brothers & sisters — not mere associates; with long-lost Friends — not enemies. It is critical that we remember that “crazy people” aren’t actually crazy – that they are simply experiencing immense psychological &/or emotional pain. It is critical that we remember that “evil people” weren’t born evil; that they learned their “bad” behaviors at points in their lives when they felt they needed them to survive — that they have simply forgotten to let these behaviors go.

And this holds true for all the “mean people” and the “liars” and the “thieves” and the “criminals” and the “jerks” and the “assholes” and even the “demons” in our lives as well. They were all born Beauty-full, and they were all born Good. They might have made cruel choices to survive in the past, and they might be behaving cruelly to survive their present, and yet they remain Good at Heart and they merit our LOVE nonetheless.

In conclusion, we are not here to wall ourselves within citadels of safety or hide within castles of comfort. Nor are we here to secure ourselves behind strong barriers of “good people” & “healthy boundaries”. No, my Friends, we are here for a very different Purpose indeed … We are here to LOVE … We must do so ALL IN — without fear or hope or condition. And we must do so not by merely allowing those in need to come to us, but rather by seeking them out; yes, by seeking out the lost, and the damned, and the downtrodden … And yet also by seeking out the wicked, and the cruel, and the impolite, and the mean, and even the evil.

By seeking them out … and then showing them LOVE.

Amen … Let it be so.

“For it to this perseverant Love that you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, giving you an example, so that you might follow in his footsteps and reflect his perfect Love.” ~ 1 Peter 2:21

 

Filed under: My Favorite Verses by Scaughdt