Love, Loving others

The Earth As It Is
Leonardo Boff
"Is it possible to live in peace and happiness when you know that two-thirds of human beings are suffering, hungry and poor? To be human we have to have compassion. This solidarity is really the defining factor of our humanity and is gradually being lost in a culture of material values. It’s not only the cry of the poor we must listen to but also the cry of the earth. The earth and human beings are both threatened. We must do something to change the situation...
There won’t be a Noah’s Ark to save only some of us. To meet people’s fundamental concerns change is needed. The world as it is does not offer the majority of humanity life but rather hell. I believe that change is possible, because I cannot accept a God who could remain indifferent to this world, but only one who cares about the poor and the suffering."

Real Love
Teresa of Avila
"Let everyone understand that the real love of God does not consist in tear-shedding, nor in that sweetness and tenderness for which we often long, just because they console us, but in serving God by serving those around us, in justice, fortitude of soul, and humility."

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I was raised a fundamentalist Protestant and growing up I didn't experience much loving-kindness, much respect for the life of the mind, or concern for the here-and-now; much attention was placed on certain religious feelings; personal salvation; the Bible; the end of the world; and the fear of sin, sex, and disorder.

Sometimes I wonder: do I react too much to my childhood? Do I stress too much the life of the mind? Do I downplay the notion of sin? Am I too much a rationalist, empiricist, pragmatist? Certainly the approach of my childhood is flawed, greatly so, but I wonder if it's a matter of degree or kind.

Anyways, these quotes got me thinking tonight about caring for the world now, certainly something Christ did (i.e., all of his life preceding his death), and, about the nature of love--that it is not sentimental, self-centered or narcissistic. (NB. This does not condemn emotion at all, just places it in proper context.)