The Way We View Each Other is The Way We Should View Everyone

Medium writers only see the good in each other

I knew that somebody was trying to tell me something, when I wrote my article about the Social Network. I was fuming over the difference between being “Facebook Friends” and friends in real life, which takes years of exposure to each other’s faults, foibles and families.

By the time we have formed a real, long-lasting friendship, we have also built up a glossary of our friend’s faults. We know what we can and can‘t trust him for. We know to protect ourselves against some of his annoying attempts at humor, so that we can enjoy his generous nature without getting too concerned about his insular thinking and prejudices.

We’ve even resigned ourselves to the fact that his recollections of experiences we shared in the past do not agree with our own! We clearly recall the details of that time, and we know that the story he’s made up for himself leaves out some very important details; but, what the heck. He’s our friend. Who else has been as loyal to us, for as long?

Medium writer [email protected] speaks of being “slapped silly” by inspiration. I’ve been slapped by the insight that my glossary of my friend’s faults stands between him and my ability to love him unconditionally. I know too much about the sins of his flesh!

But this is what we spiritual people are expected to do — love unconditionally.

When I picture myself being back in Galilee at a talk by this new teacher Jesus, and I imagine his gaze coming to rest on my face, I feel his eyes penetrating through all my garbage and pretentions, which frankly he couldn’t care about at all, and going directly into my heart. He sees ME. Without my history. Without my faults. Without my shameful secrets. Without everything except my naked, divine purity. He sees nothing ABOUT me; he sees Me.

This is what unconditional love means. And I am thinking that our Medium family’s regard for one other, focusing as it does on only those attributes which reflect our talent and soul values, comes closer to unconditional love than anything we feel for anyone else — except maybe our pets!

It’s ironic, and maybe a little silly. Am I just deluding myself?

What do you think?