| Product loving |
| New Articles |
| Written by Bob |
| 13 June 2010 |
|
Firstly, in order to avoid misconceptions about this article because of the title, I would like to say that we are all products of our society. And this is true, at least to a certain extent, for everyone. Even the most free thinking, unique individual has something in them that was born out of ingesting the values and attitudes of the society that they live in. While the majority of people living in any particular environment have adopted quite a great deal of the qualities pressed upon them since birth. We are born into a stream that becomes part of ourselves. That is why such a radical message, like the one Jesus brought, is such a hard thing to understand. Now that's the product part - what about the loving? Sometimes it is difficult to feel love for someone because of the way they are acting. If it isn't knowingly making people suffer so that you can benefit financially, or any number of other (heinous) crimes, then it is the slight annoyances that occur in the midst of our everyday lives. A bit of rudeness here, some inconsideration there, and before you know it your love for people is getting a little on the chilly side. But the first thing to remember is scale. These petty annoyances are nothing in comparison to the major crimes against humanity. I find that thinking of death and how short our time on this planet is, helps to bring perspective. But another thing to remember is what this article is about: people are influenced by their environment and a world of personal experience that you cannot see. You can tell yourself that someone is just naturally a git, and that a variation in environment/experiences wouldn't change that. But even if they are a hard person to love, and you don't want to hold any hope for them, you should try to love them for your own sake. Although I think the truth is that anyone is able to change. And because real change is heart felt, and because it is very hard to see what is really going on in a persons heart, it's almost impossible to predict how, and when, someone will change. My main point, however, is not about hope for change, but about trying to love people as the products that they are. We may be products of society, but we are also products of God. The creator made such an amazing species, it's just a massive shame that most people don't recognise the true manufacturer's ways are far superior to the ways we have devised for ourselves. People, with all their bad habits and dodgy attitudes, are still a part of God's creation. And if we are desiring to spread God's love, then we must feel something for the masses of strangers that grew up in the spiritual orphanage that I am calling society. I'm not saying that when people do wrong we should just say "oh well, it's not their fault, it's just the way they are"; we still need to rebuke the darkness in others, but we also need to have the patience to love each other in our weaknesses. |
Mail us at: fold@idl.net.au, OR write to: Godstuff Comix, P.O.Box A678, Sydney South, Australia 1235