There is a tendency among us to very casually accept the command to "love your neighbor." We will say, again and again, that our two greatest duties are to "love God and love our neighbors." But I wonder how much we mean this.
Sitting in churches and listening to people talk, even in church, I think we do not really understand this command very well. Sitting in a workplace and dealing with people in that workplace, I think we may not understand it at all.
It is astonishing how little our duty to love our neighbors seems to apply to us at work. We argue a lot at work (if we argued that much at home, well, it would not be like home at all). We complain a lot at work. Conversations at work are often just competitions, with each person rushing to get their words in as soon as there is a break or as soon as they can think of something to say.
I think lawyers are probably worse than most people in this regard. We tend to want to talk a lot because we think we are very smart. We are sure that whatever we want to say is more important than what someone else is saying. They, undoubtedly, are about to say something that is not as smart as what we are preparing to say. So, let's interrupt them.
And, while we are at it, let's assume the worst possible interpretation of anything they may be doing. If they fail in something, it is because they don't care or because they had some motive in failing (as opposed to just making a mistake). Usually, it is because they have not listened to us because we know exactly what needs to be done in every situation and we would never have made such a mistake.
If we make a mistake, it is because someone else told us something wrong, or maybe our secretary messed it up, or it is because we are working so hard that something just fell through the cracks. It is not usually because we were wrong, unless we were just trying so hard on other things.
Love your neighbor is a hard command. It is hard in big things (like the Good Samaritan story). It is really, really hard in little things. It is hard sitting at lunch and talking with someone. It is hard in dealing with someone's failure at work. It is hard when sitting around "just talking."
It is hard to love your neighbor. I will say more. It is impossible. No person can, in his or her own self, adequately love their neighbor. Only God can make that possible.
Another day is beginning. A day in which I am to love God and love my neighbor. I think that if God were my neighbor, this would not be nearly as hard to do. But you are my neighbor. I am to love you.
Sitting in churches and listening to people talk, even in church, I think we do not really understand this command very well. Sitting in a workplace and dealing with people in that workplace, I think we may not understand it at all.
It is astonishing how little our duty to love our neighbors seems to apply to us at work. We argue a lot at work (if we argued that much at home, well, it would not be like home at all). We complain a lot at work. Conversations at work are often just competitions, with each person rushing to get their words in as soon as there is a break or as soon as they can think of something to say.
I think lawyers are probably worse than most people in this regard. We tend to want to talk a lot because we think we are very smart. We are sure that whatever we want to say is more important than what someone else is saying. They, undoubtedly, are about to say something that is not as smart as what we are preparing to say. So, let's interrupt them.
And, while we are at it, let's assume the worst possible interpretation of anything they may be doing. If they fail in something, it is because they don't care or because they had some motive in failing (as opposed to just making a mistake). Usually, it is because they have not listened to us because we know exactly what needs to be done in every situation and we would never have made such a mistake.
If we make a mistake, it is because someone else told us something wrong, or maybe our secretary messed it up, or it is because we are working so hard that something just fell through the cracks. It is not usually because we were wrong, unless we were just trying so hard on other things.
Love your neighbor is a hard command. It is hard in big things (like the Good Samaritan story). It is really, really hard in little things. It is hard sitting at lunch and talking with someone. It is hard in dealing with someone's failure at work. It is hard when sitting around "just talking."
It is hard to love your neighbor. I will say more. It is impossible. No person can, in his or her own self, adequately love their neighbor. Only God can make that possible.
Another day is beginning. A day in which I am to love God and love my neighbor. I think that if God were my neighbor, this would not be nearly as hard to do. But you are my neighbor. I am to love you.