Cody wrote about Love and nailed several points I’ve been mulling over. In that unselfish love has these five qualities: (these are right from his post — go read it):
intensivity — It is deep and passionate and not tepid
extensivity — It extends to every human being and not just to one’s friends and loved ones
duration — It lasts forever and does not wane
purity — It is free from egoistic calculations of personal benefit and manipulation
adequacy — It is effective, Love that subjectively meets the other four but fails to do some objective good is not true Love
He says he has to deal mostly with adequacy. I’ve got that one on my list too, but the one that concerns me right now is extensivity.
I have trouble with loving every human being. I think somewhere along the way I lost that naivete that made me believe in the beauty of every human soul. I want that back. I know that I used to believe in the goodness. Once I saw evil or ill-will, I lost trust. I lost faith. I believed that perhaps some people weren’t deserving of love. This seems wrong. Wrong in my heart. It darkens my spirit.
Cody is taking action to address his issue. He’s pinpointed an area he’d like to address before his next birthday. And while, we’ll miss him during his sabbatical, I can’t help but feel encouraged.
It’s time that I’ve addressed my own spirit and the way I Love mankind. It’s time for me to take action too.
