I just read a comic strip where the human resources manager asks the CEO why he hasn't signed up for the company's 401K.
The CEO's response is, "I'd never be able to run that far."
As humorous as that is, I think it's a good example of what's going on today in so many aspects of our relationships -- we aren't hearing what's being said. We are hearing either what we want to hear or what we expect to hear.
Even try as we might, we may not always understand what someone else is trying to say.
A million years ago when the dinosaurs were dying off and I was a teenager on the mean streets of Chunky, I was riding bicycles with a classmate.
We paused for some reason on Gallatin Street and he did something I'd never seen him do before. He opened up a bit.
He told me he thought our other classmates didn't really like him -- that they thought he was aloof or rude or something. I told him not to worry about it, to just be himself.
He told me what I could do with my comment and rode off.
Maybe they were right and so was he.
No ambiguity there.
You know what else has no ambiguity?
The words of Jesus of Nazareth when he gave his definitive answer to the question of what the greatest commandment was.
He said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment" (Matthew 22).
Then he added, "And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
The only thing you can do greater than loving others is loving God with everything you have and are.
There's nothing greater than these two things we're commanded to do, either.
In fact, John — "the disciple whom Jesus loved" — said if we claim we love God but we hate our brother, we prove we are liars.
You cannot do one without the other.
Don't ignore it. No "buts" here, no exceptions, not a single one.
Jesus said there's no greater love we can display than to lay down our lives for our friends, and then he gave up his life for his enemies. While we were still the enemies of God, Jesus -- God the Son -- laid down his life to prove his love for others.
Love others. Don't say you love them, but... Just love them. The "buts" will take care of themselves if we are really loving.
No matter their response. No matter what others say or do.
Start with your household, then your neighbors. Display love on the streets and roads of Chunky and Newton County, right where you are.
Brett Campbell can be reached at ChunkyBrett@mail.com.
