Can't We Get Along

I’ve always been a big James Allen fan. Allen believed there are four tendencies in the human mind which interfere with our ability to get along. The four tendencies are: Pride; Self-love; Hatred; and Condemnation.

Allen was convinced if we’ll be a little more modest, a little less interested in our own petty wants and wishes, a little slower at tossing the first stone, and a little faster appreciating people we have yet to understand, there’s a good chance we can become friends with people we never dreamed of knowing.h

The four foundation stones which contribute to friendship are: Humility; Self-surrender; Love; and Compassion. Whenever these four things are present, there exists a possibility for unity and peace. The problem is these things run contrary to human nature. I don’t always want to put my neighbor’s interests first. I find it hard to bite my tongue, to control my temper, and especially hard to love people who disagree with me. And my compassion tank, oh my! that runs awfully low at times.

In Allen’s words: “Where two are determined to maintain an opposing opinion, the clinging to self and ill-will are there, and Brotherhood is absent. Where two are prepared to sympathize with each other, to see no evil in each other, to serve and not to attack each other, the Love of Truth and Good-will are there, and Brotherhood is present. All strifes, divisions, and wars inhere in the proud, unyielding self; all peace, unity, and concord inhere in the Principles which the yielding up of self reveals. Brotherhood is only practiced and known by him [her] whose heart is at peace with all the world.”

Oh Lord, give me a heart at peace with all the world!

Not Their Life

It is good to acknowledge that each of us has our own life to live. If I choose to live my life in a way that dissatisfies you, I'm sorry, but you'll have to admit, it is my life to live, not yours. And what suits me may not fit you at all. I might enjoy sleeping outdoors on air mattresses and in canvas tents, while you prefer relaxing in plush suites at the Hampton Inn. I might take a late night stroll through a dimly lit village, while you would never dream of taking such a risk. Each of us is different, which is why each of us is so interesting. I guess Karle Wilson Baker captured the crux of the issue in a poem she wrote called, Creeds (Macmillan 1938).

Friend, you are grieved that I should go

Unhoused, unsheltered, gaunt and free,
My cloak for armor – for my tent
The roadside tree;

And I – I know not how you bear
A roof betwixt you and the blue,
Brother, the creed would stifle me
That shelters you.

Yet, that same light that floods at dawn
Your cloistered room, your cryptic stair,
Wakes me too – sleeping by the hedge –
To morning prayer!

So enjoy who you are, who you were meant to be, and don't worry if some don't get it. It's not their life to live.

Fake Love

Lately I've reconnected with Blende’s Chordashian Remix of Fake Love, released in September 2012. The vocals are sung by Rebecca of Sweden’s Rebecca and Fiona.

 

In the song Rebecca believes that people who fake love can take love, but then she warns the predators to not go messing with her heart. If they do, it’s gonna come back to them. She’s known boys who have pretended to care, awhile, then they show their true selves, and it’s not quite true. So she says, “Don’t go messing with my heart, cause it’s gonna come back to you.”

 

In the scriptures, the principle of coming back to you is called reaping what you sow. If you offer your concern or respect to someone, when all you want to get out of the arrangement is something for yourself, beware! One day it will come back to you. Maybe when you least expect it, the tide will change and someone will tinker with your emotions, go messing with your heart, leave you feeling misused, abandoned and alone.

 

Rebecca says we can’t erase the hurts we bring on others, and the hurts can always be traced back to one who lies.