I was reading this article in O Magazine (it was a birthday present, and I love me my Oprah!) and want to share this quote:
“What’s the most important thing in your life?” the founder of Bikram yoga, Bikram Choudhury asks. “I ask the same thing around the globe, they say the most important thing is God, water, wind, family, children, love – all bull. The most important thing in your life is you.”
The most important thing in your life is you.
In Dallas there is a media campaign called I Am Second. Different people share their stories about how God is first and they are second.
I thought it should be called I Am Third if God is first, then others are second, and then we are third, but I guess I Am Second has a better ring to it.
So, are we the most important thing or the second most important thing? (or the third?)
Jesus was asked which commandment in the law was the greatest and he responded, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." (Matthew 22:36-40)
But in order to love God we must first love ourselves. We are made in the image of God, each and every one of us. I can not love God unless I first love myself. I can not love others unless I first love God. So, if I must love myself first, that means I must take care of myself: plenty of rest, plenty of fruits and vegetables, plenty of joy, plenty of laughter.
In the newest Sunday School class at Oak Lawn, the Unlikely Disciples, we have been talking about Abundance. One of the things that we talked about on Sunday was Affluenza. Are we so busy keeping up with the Joneses that we are becoming sick with affluenza? The average working couple spends 40 minutes a week playing with their children, and 12 minutes a day interacting with each other. Loving myself means that I do not live to work but I work to live.
What do you think? Is the most important thing in your life you?
1 comment:
Kerry, I love this. You must be an amazing minister. I agree that we must love ourselves first. But how hard it is, especially as a woman, to remember to take care of ourselves in order to love others, whether it be God or our fellow human beings. Maybe if we could all love ourselves more there would be less war and more hugging!
Love you, Kerry, and wish you weren't so far away! Claire
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