Christians seem to have problems with the second commandment, 'Love your neighbours, as you love yourself'. Apart from the the usual difficulties we all have when it comes to loving our neighbours, it seems the commandment is almost always misunderstood.
At school we were told about a triple ranking of love. God comes first in the first commandment and then the second commandment tells us to love our neighbours and then the third ourselves. This is of course rubbish.
The second commandment does not make a distinction between our neighbours and ourselves; we are equal. In God's sight we are all the same and so should we be in our own eyes. Obviously I am no different to anyone else and so should not make the distinction. The story of St Martin de la Tours makes a similar point.
In a genuine community this is obvious. It is only when people cease to be dependent upon their neighbours that they forget that usually we are all in this together.
Our natural state is one of mutuality. In terms of investment it is where many people contribute to a common cause. There is no debtor and no creditor; no-one invests an extremely large amount, or if they do it confers no great advantage on them. In terms of conversation it is the generative stage; where all share a vision and work towards it together.
I intend to develop this theme over the next few posts but just one more point. Mutuality is not an ideal world we will achieve if we all collaborate. There are hundreds of examples of mutuality working here and now. I will also identify some of the weaknesses of this approach.
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