June 22, 2020

by ©Rosalin Moss

Say It With Roz

 

 

Love Thy Neighbor

 

 

 

As I was writing my Father's Day posts on Facebook yesterday, I became overwhelmed with sadness by images from days gone by flooding my mind. I found myself wishing for the days when everyone was still here, you know, my daddy, my brothers, grandma and so on. Days when funerals were far and few in between.

As I look around at the state of things today in our great nation, I wonder if we realize how short our days are and how silly it is to waste those days on fighting with each other and trying to prove each other wrong? I wonder when all of the bullshit will stop and some brotherly love will start flowing? Will there ever be a time when somebody is not looking down their nose at someone else? How long shall it be before ugly truths are faced without turning away and pretending they do not exist? When will this nation get on its knees and bow its head and ask for forgiveness? When will we see that we are all guilty in one way or another for our pitiful plight?

In my mind, it is very simple -- love God and love your neighbor as you love yourself. Who is your neighbor? In my mind, your neighbor is every person that you encounter, no matter where it is, for that moment in time, they are your neighbor. There are no exceptions. God did not say love some of your neighbors. God did not say love only the neighbors who are of your same race. He didn't say love only the neighbors in the area where you reside. In my mind, loving your neighbor is simply respecting a person and not trying to harm or cheat that person in any way, and if that person needs your help and you are able to help them, you help them. Loving your neighbor does not mean loving yourself less or taking anything away from you.

Sometimes the truth is twisted so well until you cannot blame people for falling prey to deception. Yet, are we to let ourselves be led to hatred, fear and confusion?  Since every story can have two or more sides, I believe that it is our personal duty to understand the sides and to make an intelligent determination as to which side holds the most truth. No one is obligated to take anyone else's word for anything, including mine. Most importantly, I believe that our determinations should be based on what is right and wrong, what thus sayeth the Lord if you are a Christian. It doesn't matter what we want to be true. We must look with uncompromised eyes at what is before us, and we must accept what is truth.

I am no one of importance according to society's measuring stick and I do not claim to have the answers . Perhaps I am feeling a little sad over some of the things I have seen and read over the last few days.  So many have hearts of stone and show no mercy at all under any circumstances.  Can civilized people really be so cold, so heartless, so mean?  Can we at least tolerate each other enough so we can all live in peace and enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? Can we really love our neighbor as God asked us to?  Can we?

 

--©Rosalin Moss

Say It With Roz

June 22, 2020