The Mercury / Monday

“Love one another.”

Sounds so simple. Like parachuting (“jump out plane”) and golf (“hit ball in hole”) and really good chess (“move pieces”); like ballet, and tap dancing, writing a book, and playing the bagpipes.

Just try it – anyone of these activities. All are more difficult than most imagine. “Love one another” is more challenging than all the activities I mentioned.

Perhaps you’ve discovered this to be true.

Try to enter the world of others, hear others, wash feet, hear people’s voices, I mean really listen and hear and listen and love and listen and serve.

Yes, serve.

Serve in a way that only empowers and doesn’t at all dis-empower – which is a skill really worthy of development.

Love and serve and help and support in ways that do not rob others of their dignity and yet does not create unhealthy dependency.

Serve in a way to enrich others.

It’s a tightrope.

And, forgive. Yes. Really forgive. Forgive with the love that covers a multitude of errors.

See the complexities of other people’s lives and do not walk away.

See the errors and unwise choices and the results of unwise choices others have made and not give up with a shrug or a contemptuous attitude.

Love when it is neither appreciated nor reciprocated.

Love even when it is rejected.

Love, even when the act of loving makes an enemy of the person whom you seek to love.

This is not uncommon!

“Love one another.”

This is perhaps the greatest challenge each of us ever faces.

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(Un)related pic…… I adore the picture but I love Thulani’s tagged comment the most: