Love thy neighbour

The second reading from St.Paul's letter to the Galatians last week had one verse that blew me away:

For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement,namely, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

How very simple!Yet how very incredibly difficult it turns out to be!

A close friend of mine was talking about DOMA being struck down and how when it comes to pathbreaking things like that, the expectation seems to be that we are more PC than anything else-you have to be a full fledged supporter of the  whole concept of homesexuality rather than be selective and say ,"Well,I am not exactly enamoured with the lifestyle,but it is none of my business what people do in the privacy of their homes and I think everyone deserves a chance at marital bliss and so I will support DOMA."

It is the first part of the sentence that is unacceptable-the whole"I am not enamored"part?To be PC- the expectation is that you a ardent supporter of homosexuality,take your kids to gay parades,have fireworks whenever a ruling is in their favor.......

Love your neighbour as your self means you empathize and find out what you would like someone else to do to be supportive when you are in a pickle rather than get themselves in a pickle to give you company!

A simple example-I do not go to beauty salons for manicures, pedicures,waxing,eye brow plucking-anything(maybe I should!).But I have plenty of friends who do.Personally I think it is a waste of money to worry about dead cells that grow on your body when a million kids go to bed hungry everyday,but then again,that is me.I do not hold that against my friends and I am sure they wonder why I buy so many magazines and books when I can borrow them off the library without wasting any money.My point is - there are some things where we need to respect a persons choice even if it not what you would have chosen - and support them through the process,which sometimes might mean you need to shut up and not go on and on about how they are wrong and you are right,because, it is their life after all..Like I said, you don't have to go to parades and wave flags, just keeping your opinion to yourself and recognizing that everyone has a right to choose is enough.By the same token when you oppose something, recognizing that it is not your choice to make and not trying actively to hinder someone's right to choose is ideal.

The cacophony over abortion rights comes to mind.

Kathleen Parker of the Washington Post had mean things to say about Wendy Davis the Texas State Senator who filibustered last week to prevent an abortion related bill from passing.Her complaint was that Wendy Davis got a lot of exposure because she made the rounds of all the main TV channels after the event and apparently she needs less cheers from the bleachers!

The whole abortion rights issue has become  more and more contentious every year  and notice how her article has a pro-life(anti-choice)bent and trashing Wendy Davis is not going to help or hinder the bigger issue at hand-but she did it anyway.

Check it out:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/kathleen-parker-wendy-davis-shouldnt-be-sainted-for-her-filibuster/2013/07/02/23e1bb46-e354-11e2-a11e-c2ea876a8f30_story.html

I am pro-life for myself but wouldn't dare insist that everyone be pro-life too because the minute we try to curtail that choice-we are infringing on someone's right to choose-which we do not have the right to do.I am sure the one child policy in China irks all the pro-lifers no end and I  wonder if they ever think about how an autocratic government trying to impose its will on the people and rabid pro-lifers trying to impose their will on everyone else  actually amount to the same thing?

But America is a surprising place-just when you think all is gone,fairness and justice will rear its head up.So while this all plays out,I am going to be busy putting things away in my new pantry and linen closet and savouring the sheer fact that we are homeowners again and that we have a humongous lot which needs more plants and funnily is composed of almost all the gardening zones Sunset magazine talks about-full sun,partial sun,partial shade,full shade.....