.

.

Verse of the Day (14th January 2019)
“Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar.  For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.  And he has given us this command:  Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.”   1 John 4:20-21

There you have it.  It says so in the bible!  The eleven commandments!

.

.

I have lived under the care of our National Health Service my whole life.  My physical and emotional care.  Teeth to toes.  Dreams to depression.  And right now struggling to deliver what is expected.  Perhaps because what is expected is not just care.  What is expected is perfection.  Unable to pro-create naturally?  Then provide us the science, resources and funding to make our baby.  Don’t want to be responsible for drinking to excess?  Then provide me the science, resources and funding (and bedside manner) – and provide it now.  Don’t like the look of this or that bit of a perfectly normal body?  Then provide us with the science, resources and funding to make me perfect.

Until I was eighteen  I was cared for.  My care paid for by others who never knew me then or now.  When I began work a small portion of my income – tax – paid for others I never knew then or now.  Minor ailments and illnesses along the way were cared for.  And when I moved into the second half of my life – my body and mind required more care.  And others who never knew me then or now – once again – pay for my care.

We are commanded to pay tax.  And through this command we are obliged to love others.  Others we never knew then or now.  Love that is not a cocktail of chemicals and electrical impulses.  Not in the beginning.  Maybe not ever.  But love all the same.  Love that does even when it doesn’t.  Love that is equally for me and my “brother and sister”.  A give and take love.  A love that is constant. Love that depends not on like or dislike.  Love that isn’t even conditional  – for how do I know whether I will be ill with this or that – whether my illnesses (or not) along the way will be sufficient to recoup my “investment” or not.

I grew up in a time different to my parents … to their parents … to our children … to their children … A time when knowledge came from books … newspapers … talking … listening … playing … being told “no” …

“No” is an unfashionable word today.  ”Having rights” is the expectation today.  The expectation that “no” applies to others.

.

.

It is a fashion tending to conditional love.  The love which says “I gave to you so you must give to me”,  Maybe because the whole world, we like to think, is immediately available to me through my smartphone.  Every fact I can ever need.  Whenever I need it.  Wherever I want it.  So I can decide if my investment of this moment is worth it for the next moment – the next person – the next demand of me.  The unrelenting demand on me to decide whether to say yes or to say no.  But when others say no to me …?

That is just not right.

.

.

Don’t blame Trump.  Don’t blame the politicians.  Don’t blame God.  Don’t blame the bible.  They are scape-goats.  Blame is like that word “no”.  It applies to anyone and everyone but me.  I am never to blame.  My smartphone says so.  It brings other victims to me.  It’s not our fault – never our fault.  We chat online.  We tweet.  We know.  So don’t blame us – don’t blame me.  I am not to blame.  For anything.  I have rights.  The right to expect.

Faith, hope and rights.  The greatest of these is rights.  And this is a new commandment that I give you.  That you have rights and expectations.  And love conditionally.

Always conditionally.

.

.