Love Thy neighbor.
Simple, straightforward, to the point.
An it harm none, do as ye will.
Another straightforward and simple
quote.
Both are composed of letters into
structures called words. Words with meaning. And though both quote
have different words they have the same message. Live your life, with
others, without hate. Love your life. Love the people within it.
Respect yourself, respect others.
Don't hate on your neighbor. Don't hate
differences, embrace it!
There are no exceptions to these well
know quotes. No colloquiums. And yet we break these laws on a daily
basis. We make assumptions based on race, sex, religions, even the
shoes we wear is cause for someone to draw from the well of hate
within them. That hate didn't come from the person yu were looking
at. Nay, that sinkhole was created by you!
Stop looking around, you're in the seat
of the backhoe that dug it, darling. It starts with little things. I
hate my hair, I hate naps, I hate long pasta. One spoon of dirt, then
a shovel. The hole gets deeper even though you swear you''re not
doing much.
Remember, criminals have escapes
prisons with spoons, and so you dig your prison, narrow and deep. Now
you're stuck. You don't know how to get out. Then you see it.
Something to fill that well. The metaphorical water or dirt.
You find something external to hate.
Black people, jewish people, gay people, snails, red panties. Doesn't
matter. You start slinging mud and it splashes back, filling your
well until you fill it enough to step out of it. You feel
accomplished! But now you have a well full of trash and mud and it's
an eyesore. So you try to use more mud and trash to cover it. Looks
even uglier. So you try and plant flowers and hope no one notices the
flowers sink into mud, decaying.
So then you start criticizing everyone
else's mud well and making them feel ashamed of theirs. Some will
accept your abuse and even return it.
However there are those who see one
anothers mudpit of anger and hate and decide to help one another.
They both pump the mud from both of their pits, then take a rest,
share a lunch even. Then they work even harder to build a foundation
for the wells. The materials are simple and functional and cheap!
Meanwhile you're trying to plant false
flowers, scoffing at the people who are doing all this hard work to
rebuild their well's foundation. They are even leaving their own
wells to help finish someone elses! The nerve!
Just as you finish planting the the
expensive unsinkable fake flowers, you see beautiful landscaped wells
around you. These people, the ones that are understanding, kind and
happy. They are allowing other people to drink from their well
because they have so much extra to give. Everyone's water tastes
different but it's refreshing, healing, joyful....
And you sulk and pout, even turning
away offers of help because you don't like how this person dresses,
or what this person believes.
Now tell me, would you enjoy having the
only mud filled, fake flower topped well in the neighborhood?
Surrounded by all the beautiful, landscaped well around you. You are
constantly invited over but your refuse because you can't let go of
your prejudices, your beliefs that someone else taught you. Beliefs
that never felt right. Beliefs that instill fear, anger and mistrust
within you and forces you to project to others.
Love thy Neighbor.
An it harm none, do as ye will.
Start simple. Start understanding.
Start learning. Grow. Accept help. Give help. You;d be surprised on
how fast your well becomes as beautiful as those around you.
K.L. Farr April 2014 (c)
