The greatest commandment

"Love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD" (Leviticus 19:18).

I have been thinking about this a great deal recently. For many of us, the statement known by some as the greatest commandment is very appropriate because we value ourselves. However, I am increasingly finding people for whom the commandment should be "Love thyself as your neighbor".

I have been ruminating on variations of this statement. As it applies to me, it might read "Give thyself a break: I am the LORD". One, it would be really cool to see this in the bible it speaks to a God that values the genuine above the formal. I believe that God does value the genuine over the formal. The statement is "Come to me all ye who are heavy laden and I will refresh you" not "... and I will refresh you but only if you have the proper attire". God and belief is not a nightclub for the "grown and sexy", it is a belief structure.

I see a number of people who, like me at times, are much harder on themselves than they would ever be on someone else. To a certain extent, that is a good way to operate. Never judge anyone harsher than you would judge yourself. Remember, we all have failings and idiosyncrasies so judging others harshly reveals as much about your insecurities as it does about your opinion of the actions or words of another. That being said, there are some really good people who believe that they must be perfect and accept far less from others. Perfection should be a goal that is never attained if nothing else, to keep us motivated and/or humble.

An important thing about perfection is that it is subjective. A perfect day for me might be an okay day for some and a boring day for others. I think dark chocolate pots de creme is one of God's perfect confections and surely there must be some poor wayward soul who disagrees. Even within a lifetime you may find two perfect loves and they might be very different but perfection is based on the situation. A perfect love at 25 might be very different from a perfect love at 65. At 25 one aspect of some one's perfection might be that we share many of the same hobbies where at 65 shared hobbies might not be so important because I have amassed tons of people who share my hobbies but I need someone to share my couch and cuddle. For the record, the greatness of cuddling can be enjoyed by young and old alike. In fact, if it were not for my personal issues with anxiety about touching, I would hug all my friends and many co-workers.

This is a rambling message but the core message is give yourself a break because you are not perfect but you are pretty darn fantastic in my eyes. If within 30 seconds of reading my last statement you thought of ways in which you are not, then I am definitely talking to you. Humility is not denying your gifts and accomplishments but instead recognizing that your gifts and accomplishments are not yours alone and therefore, you should be thankful and wish to use them to better others.