A Planetary Valentine

When will time end? Glad you asked. Geologically I cannot say. But I know spiritual time will begin when all things in the would are living in harmonic balance. But how do we get there? Good question. Harmonic balance is achieved through world peace. It looks as if geological time will not be ending anytime soon so we better get to work on spiritual time.

The only way to achieve any of this is to live respecting all life. Respecting all life does not mean we have to go and be vegetarians for the rest of our days or turn our lives upside down running off to join a third world missionary. It means we are good stewards of life. A good steward of life knows the ultimate goal of our world should be achieving world peace for that is the way to truly live. I think we would all be living longer healthier lives using a good stewardship model.

This happens through a simple choice. Love - the verb. Action. When we choose to love we engage life with a profound respect. Not merely love of ones own friends and family. Not merely love of ones own country or religion. Not merely love of ones own beliefs or politics. Love of life - all life. If you love life then you respect all life. You are a good steward of life.

It is when the love of life breaks down that the messy stuff happens: hate, violence, intolerance. And that messy stuff is not only in the scenes to be seen on the evening news. We all see the violence in our own lives. A dirty fight between lovers or friends is an act of violence. Every butting of heads in the professional world that leads to resentment and spite is an act of violence. Every “watch it asshole” or finger given a cabbie is an act of violence. Aggression is fine. We need that to survive. But there are so many tiny little acts of violent aggression. And the worst? The ones we commit when we know we should not. Because to choose to love at that point in time takes more courage and vulnerability then there seems to be in supply in our world right now.

To choose to love and stop acting out in violent aggression is the simple decision to not react out of anger and fear. Can you imagine if we completely stopped acting out in anger and fear. If violent aggression, and that being any aggression that does not respect the sanctity of all human life, was no more, we would have world peace. We would be good stewards of the world and there would be plenty for all people to live in harmonic balance with each other, with the planet, with life, with love.

When we are inside of love time is meaningless. Its significance ends. The end of time. When there is an absence or loss of love, time holds no promise but eternal bleakness.

And though I may have employed a little hyperbole here, in the end it has to be acted out in the small movements of our lives. And again the courage runs thin. I am guilty. Many times love is not fuelling my actions. If love was fuelling our actions that fuel would become energy for all of how life works. The energy of love transforms. I think life will evolve to the next level of consciousness when that happens. It makes so much sense but so hard to believe in - harder to do. The next evolution of consciousness has to be a creation of a global spirituality based on the guiding principles of love that allows for local expression but global respect for all.

Exactly how does love fuel our daily choices? I recently read this paraphrase of the popular1 Corinthians 13:4-8: of the Christian New Testament.

The love of which I speak is slow to lose patience;
It looks for ways of being constructive.
It is not possessive.
It is neither anxious to impress nor does it cherish
inflated ideas of its own importance.
Love has good manners and does not pursue selfish advantage.
It is not touchy
It does not keep account of evil.
It is always eager to believe the best.
Always hopeful
Always patient.
It is a love which knows no limit to its endurance
Not fading to its hope.
It is in fact the one thing that still
remains when everything else has disappeared.

Also I came across this little list things to consider in your approach. Good luck with the application and the courage needed for it.


WHAT LOVE DOESN'T

Love doesn't abuse or take you for granted
Try to change or re-arrange you
Blame you or carry angry grudges
Manipulate you by anger, loud voice or tears
Get you into win-lose situations
Give you unsolicited advice
Judge or tell you what is wrong with you
Just tolerate you as a condescending favor
Make you prove yourself again and again
Need be right, to have all the answers
Pout or refuse to talk to you
Punish you vindictively for being wrong
Remember the things you have done wrong
Seek and call attention to itself
Show off—to let you know where you stand
Undermine your confidence in yourself
Use you for his or her own gain then discard you
Ventilate its emotions on you as a garbage dump
Write you off because you didn't meet its demands



WHAT LOVE DOES

Love accepts you wherever you are
Affirms your goodness and giftedness
Cares about and wants to know if you are OK
Challenges you to grow to your potential
Empathizes—what it's like to be you
Encourages you to believe in yourself
Is Gentle in its way of dealing with you
Keeps confidences—your secrets are safe
Is Kind—is always for you on your side
Laughs a lot, always with never at you
Looks for goodness in you and finds it
Makes you feel glad that you are you
Overlooks your foolishness and human weaknesses
Prays for your needs and your growth
Sees good in you that others haven't noticed
Shares itself with you, by self-disclosure
Speaks up when you need someone to defend you
Is tactful even when confronting you
Takes responsibility for its own behaviour


Happy Valentine’s Day.