HEART

We run the risk of turning off our heart… of becoming insensitive people.

People who live in big cities are inclined to stop thinking about others as people who they can help and, instead, they see them as obstacles that they have to get round in order to carry out their everyday responsibilities.

I’m not writing as if I was talking with an egocentric and ambitious person, who doesn’t even see others as obstacles anymore, and instead sees them as «steps» able to be used to achieve their own goals (well… I hope this isn’t your situation… but if it is I recommend you to stop, analyze the results of a life lived like that, and then put the essential priorities that are the minimum principles of fraternity in order).  

I’m writing to you, who honestly want to progress in life and who try to be merciful people and to show solidarity with others.

If we want to have a healthy concern for others, we should avoid the following ways to face life: a) Be too self-absorbed, b) Generalize relationships and situations.

The first one has to do with an internal aspect. If my attention is excessively focused on what happens in a personal level, I’ll tend to maximize what’s really happening to me and to forget about the needs of the people around me. 

The second one has to do with an external aspect, with bad experiences on the way of solidarity. If we have been disappointed by others, we tend to generalize relationships, to negotiate our trust, and we tend not to distinguish clearly between deceit and real suffering.

In a certain occasion Jesus was asked what was the most important commandment. He answered: «‘The most important one,’ answered Jesus, ‘is this: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.'» Mark 12:29-31 (NIV).

We all have problems. We all have been disappointed by others. But the change doesn’t arrive when I avoid reality and choose to be in a secure position.  

The path that leads to a balanced concern for others involves a continuous process that follows the following diagram: «because I love God I can develop a healthy self esteem. Because I have a healthy self esteem I can love others as I love myself… and do things as a consequence of that.

Have a Good Weekend!