Driving to work this morning, I was thinking about Hillel the Elder, a famous Rabbi who lived in the century before Christ. Hillel was challenged by a Gentile to explain the Torah while standing on one foot. Hillel raised a foot and said “What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow: this is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation; go and learn.” It occurred to me that Jesus made a similar statement in Luke 10:27 – “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” That’s the entire message of the New Testament. Everything else is biographical details and opinions.
Love God; love others.
Driving my little red truck across town, not fully awake, I thought about how simple that is. Simple is not the same as easy. By the time I got to the parking lot, I knew I was not able to do it. I love my daughter. I like some people, put up with a few more and dislike some. The vast majority – billions of them – don’t really entire my awareness. And it don’t take much to annoy the shit outta me – there’s music where I work which I tolerate the best I can. A song by the Eagles played a few minutes ago. That’s about all it takes to piss me off. I really hate the Eagles.
I can’t do anything about this. I’d be happy to have God fix me, but He doesn’t seem to work that way. It appears that I have to participate in the process somehow. So today, I’m meditating on the four-word summary of Christ’s words above. And I’ma try to let go of whatever it is that prevents me from loving people.
That’s about all I can do today.
Luther von Wolfen 