We must love others as much as we love our selves.

Wednesday, 10/14/`5

In our first reading Paul speaks against blaming others for faults we have our selves. In the Gospel Jesus  spoke against those who demand they be treated as superior.

Those faults come to us naturally, since each of us goes through life as the center of  his or her own world.

In a discussion on suicide, I found one Jewish point of view interesting. One rabbi declared suicide to be a grave sin since every human is the center of his or her own world, so that in committing suicide anyone agrees to kill off everyone else with him or herself.

Jesus did not tell us to love our neighbor more than our self, just as much as we love our self. You sin against the commandment that says, “Thou shalt not kill,” when you fail to take good care of yourself. Selflove is as important as love of neighbor.

Loving yourself is the first step toward love of neighbor. By practicing empathy we imagine we are that other person, and we go on to love him or her as much as we love ours self.