Thursday, January 8, 2009

More hurt, more love


The person who is more sensitive and aware, who sees how people are not being loving, and gets hurt by it, must be the one who is more loving, tolerant, patient, and accepting of less-than-loving behavior. This is the suffering prepared for those whose hearts are open and tender, who are ready to receive the anointing of the Holy Spirit. These souls will feel more pain, but will be more loving. For their love will be the love of God which they will call upon to comfort their broken hearts. Know that God is close to these souls and He will protect them from the darts of the worldly-minded.

"Cleanse ye your eyes, so that ye behold no man as different from yourselves. See ye no strangers; rather see all men as friends, for love and unity come hard when ye fix your gaze on otherness. And in this new and wondrous age, the Holy Writings say that we must be at one with every people; that we must see neither harshness nor injustice, neither malevolence, nor hostility, nor hate, but rather turn our eyes toward the heaven of ancient glory. For each of the creatures is a sign of God, and it was by the grace of the Lord and His power that each did step into the world; therefore they are not strangers, but in the family; not aliens, but friends, and to be treated as such.

Wherefore must the loved ones of God associate in affectionate fellowship with stranger and friend alike, showing forth to all the utmost loving-kindness, disregarding the degree of their capacity, never asking whether they deserve to be loved. In every instance let the friends be considerate and infinitely kind. Let them never be defeated by the malice of the people, by their aggression and their hate, no matter how intense. If others hurl their darts against you, offer them milk and honey in return; if they poison your lives, sweeten their souls; if they injure you, teach them how to be comforted; if they inflict a wound upon you, be a balm to their sores; if they sting you, hold to their lips a refreshing cup."

--from the writings of the Baha'i Faith

3 comments:

  1. It is not how it appears, because others do not see the sting they inflict on you and they believe themselves to be the ones suffering, and they are unable to see how they have hurt you. So you have no one to comfort you, no one to turn to for solace and hope. It's complete emptiness and pure pain and rejection that you face if you are honest... and then you must be honey when all the world around you is poison? What nonsense is that? They will keep poisoning you until you are drowning in it - you will have not only the poison in your veins to kill you but you'll drown in all of it. The world is nothing but sorrow and pain, from every direction, from every place and at every moment. There is no peace.

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    1. Yeah, but...I mean, like, the real God and all that...I mean there really is God and stuff. And He's good and He's there, and...have I not convinced you?

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  2. ...and then, in order to survive, and eat, and sleep, you have to do what they world expects. At every moment there is someone somewhere expecting you to be some way which is not real, which is not you. And they pride themselves on their kindness and helpfulness, when underneath they are ready to lunge at you if you take the wrong step. And if you question any of it then you are the one that is unkind, mean and hurtful. Step outside of the box and they will beat you with sticks of pretentions kindness back into your place. If you don't smile they'll gouge your eyes out. You learn to smile back at them and love them for fear of death. Everyday you fear death, so you keep smiling until you forget why you're smiling and you forget who you are or what was ever real. There is no real joy left, there is only a deep sense that you wish you were dead. Death is the only way to rest from the forced smile of emptiness that the world demands of you. "Smile at me or die," it says. And in your weakness you smile, while inside your spirit slowly dies and you are nothing but a shadow wishing for the sun.

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