We read in Holy Scripture, that “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22: 39). Yet, how many people having read this, and sort of understanding it, have simply forgotten its true significance; or perhaps have never really understood its significance, or taken thereby these words to heart. When it comes to this scripture, the very first thing to recognize, is how much we really love our own self; for it is that love for our own self, that drives many a person, to work hard, to study hard, to achieve something of note, and to keep on keeping on, when battling though those times that are tough, because we want to accomplish that which we need to accomplish, so as to benefit our self, in the honest belief that in doing so, we will thereby be able to better benefit others.
The reality is that most of us, really do love ourselves a lot; and while we may express disappointment in some of the things that we so do, as well as regret, so of; the bottom line is that we are usually quite quick to forgive ourselves, and truly believe that we are almost always basically good, at heart. Whether or not, this is literally true or not, doesn’t much matter; for the bigger picture is that as much as we might express our love for others, even those that we are very close to; we have a strong tendency to believe that at the end of the day, that about the only love that we can always count on, in return, no matter what, is our own love for our own self; along, of course, with God’s unconditional love for us.
So then, in consideration, that we love ourselves so much, and that self-love is seemingly with us all of time; in fact, it must be said, that we typically still love ourselves, even when we know that we have done something rather rotten; we thus find that when we take an honest re-look at Matthew 22: 39, we thereby recognize that the hurdle to love our neighbor as our own self, is indeed, an incredibly big hurdle, to overcome; but overcome it, we must so do. To accomplish such a mission, necessitates our taking account of who and what we really are; and in furtherance of that cause, to recognize that perhaps our neighbor, though appearing different than our own self, or seeming to have characteristics not in line with some of our most cherished beliefs, may, on the other hand, actually represent someone that in a unique way, is perhaps our better self, thus encased within a different body.
After all, God never intended to make carbon copies of each human form so created; for that would be pretty pointless. Further to the point, the most valuable treasures have always been those treasures that are hidden or obscure, which is thereby part of what makes them so valued. So then, just as when we go into the funhouse at the carnival, in which we stand in front of different distorting mirrors, in which, crazy and distorted reflections thus appear in front of us; we never though get confused that somehow we have changed into that image. So too, our neighbor, good or bad, reflects back to us, the distortions of what we see this world to be, and when we are thus able to cut through all of the nonsense, we will finally see, as if for the very first time, that each person so created by God, is in actuality, a fair reflection of God’s undivided love.