“This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another.”
Love God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself are the two great commandments mentioned in the Bible.
Sometimes we may think other priorities are more important like getting our way, arguing our point, changing other people’s opinions, finishing a business deal or getting dinner cooked. But they are never as important as holding love in our heart toward our family members and neighbors.
Love is the most important activity and we are blessed when it’s our highest priority. And so are those around us.
I beg to differ–just a tiny bit– Evan, although I’m basically in agreement. I don’t think cooking dinner and loving God, or the neighbors, are mutually exclusive. In fact I believe cooking for loved ones or freiinds is an expression of love, and that cooking can even be a real creative expression of Soul.
I love your blog.
Smiles
Nancy
I agree. Cooking dinner is very important! And when done with Love, the most important part of preparing that meal, the outcome is going to be super.
Thank you Evan and Nancy. I feel that way also.
Thank you for today’s post. I wish to share something I read a long time ago.
Whatever you do, oh, do it with love,
And love whatever you do.
Whatever you speak, oh, speak it with love,
And Love will speak back to you.
Whatever you think, oh, think it with love,
And Love will change your view.
Whatever you do, just do it with love,
And Love will do things for you.
– Vene Wright, Christian Science Journal, April 1983, p.235.
that was lovely. thank you.
Thank you so much, Evan, and Shireen for the poem. Very helpful to me as I work with “naughty” adolescents, and it can be challenging sometimes to be loving. My day went much better as I keep this blog and comments in mind throughout the day.
I feel the context in which he spoke about cooking is not to get caught up with it.. Of course, cooking can be an offering of love
I smiled when I read Nancy’s comments. I am still learning that the activities of every day life (cooking, cleaning, errands, etc) which seem to take up so much of our time can be viewed in a more spiritual context. They then become opportunities to express God qualities (order, harmony, beauty, nurturing, purity, etc) as we work and express love for friends and family.The words Haz todo con amor (do all with love) used to hang over my kitchen sink, a reminder that even the most mundane chores we do, if done with love, become an opportunity to glorify God. But of course Evan is making the most important point: First and foremost love! Blessed day everyone!
Usefull the know that “love” is not WHAT you do so much as HOW
you do whatever you do. . . . not an action but a motive & style.
Thanks to all who contribute with such love. ( <-; )
“It matters not what be thy lot, So Love doth guide” MBE
I loved Evan’s post and all of the comments. Nancy made a good point, but in light of what Evan wrote, it made me pause and consider what it means to love our neighbor. When Jesus was faced with a multitude of people needing to be fed, he didn’t express his love by just “cooking” for his friends or immediate loved ones (i.e. his disciples). In churches sometimes I’ve felt that all of the loving focus is expressed inward…i.e. to the church members and not the community at large. So I think what Evan is encouraging us to do here is to be more inclusive with our love and to broaden our concept of “neighbor” so that it includes even those that aren’t our immediate friends and loved ones.
This is in no way a criticism of what Nancy wrote. I totally agree with Nancy’s comment and it pointed out so well how we all can express our love by using everyday tasks as a means of doing that. But her comment also made me think more deeply about what Evan wrote, as all of the comments people lovingly take the time to contribute so often do. So I just wanted to share what her comment triggered in my own thought in case it is helpful to somebody else. I know I can certainly do more to broaden the community with whom I share my love, so I’m grateful for this blog in that it reminded me to do just that.
Although as a cook I agree with many of you, Let the dinner burn but follow the Love of Christ especially for our those who would not love us: for what would feed the world more fully?
Love one another, Amen
The most important activity is to Love one another as God loves you. All success in life is based on this.
Red Skelton always says after a performance, “GOD BLESS.”