In Matthew's version of the Greatest Commandment, he emphasizes the similarity of loving Neighbor as Self to loving God with your whole self (all you heart, your soul and your mind). As I've commented on previously, there are three persons involved in these two commandments; God, Neighbor and Self. It's been my experience that to fully love God or to fully love Neighbor, requires, first, that I fully love Self; you can't give what you don't have!
This year I've embraced Non Violent Living which I believe is the epitome of this commandment. As I reflect on my daily struggles to do this, I've recognized that to love myself in the fullest way and therefore be able to love God and Neighbor, I must first recognize and embrace my own dignity! Through my Christian Contemplative Spirituality and practice I've come to know that God dwells in me (and in everyone / everything else). The very fact that God is the deepest part of my soul grants to me a dignity that I can never lose. I am, of course, fully human and so subject to the Human Condition, as such, I operate from motivations that I'm largely unconscious of. It's when I'm drawn to blindly operate from these largely hidden motivations, that I can "sin" (i.e. to operate in a way that belies my fundamental dignity) or as St Paul writes: "What I do, I do not understand. For I do not do what I want, but I do what I hate." Romans 7:15.
Being conscious that nothing I do can diminish the fundamental dignity inherent to God's presence in me, allows me to be present to my "sin" and the motivations of my shadow self. This frees me from projection (he/she caused me to act or feel this way), any victim mentality (I act this way because), or denial or repression (that was nothing) to justify my actions. Trusting in my inherent dignity allows me to be genuinely present and learn from my shadow self and the inner pain or difficulty I experience that causes me to act badly. For me, presence to such pain and difficulty is only possible with the graces of the Indwelling God. This dependence on God serves to both fortify my loving relationship with God and to increase my own humility. This process allows me to experience the gradual acceptance and transformation of my own shadow self.
Once I embrace my own dignity, am present to enough of my shadow and have been able to work through the transformation process with God, I begin to know that the same dignity and unconscious motivation toward acting badly exists in others. As I develop more compassion for myself and humble reliance upon God in this process, I develop more compassion and patience for others as well. Now when I look at others, I begin to see them like myself at an even deeper level; I'm able to embrace their dignity inherent in God dwelling within them as well as their own unique struggle with the Human Condition. I can begin to genuinely love them more deeply.
So to me, living a Non Violent life starts with recognizing and trusting in my own inherent dignity. This allows me to be consciously present to my own struggles with the Human Condition and shadow self and my own dependence upon God to assist in the transformation process. In this way I diminish my need to blame another and, instead, can be present to an awareness of the inherent dignity we share through God. Living a Non Violent life permits me to assist God in the transformation process of love that's at the heart of this Greatest Commandment.
This year I've embraced Non Violent Living which I believe is the epitome of this commandment. As I reflect on my daily struggles to do this, I've recognized that to love myself in the fullest way and therefore be able to love God and Neighbor, I must first recognize and embrace my own dignity! Through my Christian Contemplative Spirituality and practice I've come to know that God dwells in me (and in everyone / everything else). The very fact that God is the deepest part of my soul grants to me a dignity that I can never lose. I am, of course, fully human and so subject to the Human Condition, as such, I operate from motivations that I'm largely unconscious of. It's when I'm drawn to blindly operate from these largely hidden motivations, that I can "sin" (i.e. to operate in a way that belies my fundamental dignity) or as St Paul writes: "What I do, I do not understand. For I do not do what I want, but I do what I hate." Romans 7:15.
Being conscious that nothing I do can diminish the fundamental dignity inherent to God's presence in me, allows me to be present to my "sin" and the motivations of my shadow self. This frees me from projection (he/she caused me to act or feel this way), any victim mentality (I act this way because), or denial or repression (that was nothing) to justify my actions. Trusting in my inherent dignity allows me to be genuinely present and learn from my shadow self and the inner pain or difficulty I experience that causes me to act badly. For me, presence to such pain and difficulty is only possible with the graces of the Indwelling God. This dependence on God serves to both fortify my loving relationship with God and to increase my own humility. This process allows me to experience the gradual acceptance and transformation of my own shadow self.
Once I embrace my own dignity, am present to enough of my shadow and have been able to work through the transformation process with God, I begin to know that the same dignity and unconscious motivation toward acting badly exists in others. As I develop more compassion for myself and humble reliance upon God in this process, I develop more compassion and patience for others as well. Now when I look at others, I begin to see them like myself at an even deeper level; I'm able to embrace their dignity inherent in God dwelling within them as well as their own unique struggle with the Human Condition. I can begin to genuinely love them more deeply.
So to me, living a Non Violent life starts with recognizing and trusting in my own inherent dignity. This allows me to be consciously present to my own struggles with the Human Condition and shadow self and my own dependence upon God to assist in the transformation process. In this way I diminish my need to blame another and, instead, can be present to an awareness of the inherent dignity we share through God. Living a Non Violent life permits me to assist God in the transformation process of love that's at the heart of this Greatest Commandment.
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