Love Does No Harm

Love is the driving force behind most religions because love is the very nature of God. And as Saint Paul says in Romans: Love does no harm. So why do we-- as humans created in the image and likeness of God-- have to work so hard at being loving; at doing no harm to ourselves or others? Seems we ought to be love personified; and that being positive, uplifting and life-giving should be inherently easy for us. But this is rarely the case. We are too often negativity personified, and complaining or criticizing comes all too inherently easy for us.

Think about it. How hard do any of us have to work at being negative? I don't know of any one who actually works hard at being critical, judgmental, intolerant or impatient. These defects in thinking seem to be as natural as breathing. As soon as we awaken each morning, our minds are often drowning in negative thoughts. We ruminate immediately over problems at work we fear we will face. Then we get behind the wheels of our cars, hit the highway and drown in our criticism of every other driver on the road. Already we have set the pattern of our day into a deep groove of negativity. And, if we feel ourselves lightening-up any, all we have to do is turn on the radio and listen to any number of bitch-fests that masquerade as talk shows.

No wonder so many of us feel like we have deep dark black holes in our souls. We are so alienated from our true nature, which is Love. It's time that we returned to that nature, that we stop doing harm to ourselves and to others. We need to reconnect with God and allow Love to sweep are souls free of negativity's slime 'n grime. It's time we stop judging and criticizing and start accepting and affirming ourselves and others. And here's how we can begin:

I propose that we set aside one day a week to practice "Love Does No Harm." We can make a pact between ourselves and God that we will focus on being positive for 24 hours. In doing so, we will declare that Love will rule our hearts and that our focus for the day will be on accepting ourselves, others and life as they are. We will relinquish our need to control and thus to criticize. We will look for the good in everything with an empathetic eye and a compassionate heart. We will give up our egos for the day. When we feel the need to be negative or critical, we will remember that everyone is broken or imperfect in some way, just as we are; and instead of being negative, we will place ourselves in the shoes of everyone we encounter. We will remember that there are two sides to every story-- not just our side. If people are negative towards us, we will be loving toward them; knowing that eventually this love will return to us in healing ways. Kindness eventually begets kindness, just as love reaps love.

Let's start right now. We can draw-up an official Love Does No Harm pact between God and ourselves. Remember, we need to give ourselves room to breathe by understanding that we will stumble and fall at times, and that God understands we are simply doing the best we can do. When we stumble and fall, let's pledge to allow God to help us pick ourselves up and to try again. The more we try, the easier and more natural it will become for us to see life through positive eyes and to experience it with open hearts. Hopefully, before we know it, we will be naturally practicing Love Does No Harm each and every day of our lives. In doing so, we will truly allow our souls to shine and the world will be a better place!