The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:29-31)
One's neighbour is one's equal. One's neighbour is not the beloved, for whom you have passionate preference, nor your friend, for whom you have passionate preference. Nor is your neighbour, if you are well educated, the well-educated person with whom you have cultural equality - for with your neighbour you have before God the equality of humanity. Nor is your neighbour who is higher social status than you, that is, insofar as he is of higher social status he is not your neighbour, for to love him because he is of higher status that you can easily be partiality's condescension and to that extent self love.
No, to love one's neighbour means equality. It is encouraging in your relationship to people of distinction that in them you shall love your neighbour. In relation to those inferior it is humbling that in them you are not to love the inferior but shall love your neighbour. If you do this there is salvation, for you shall do it. Your neighbour is every man, for the basis of distinction he is not your neighbour, nor on the basis of likeness to you as being different from other men. He is your neighbour on the basis of equality with you before God; but this equality absolutely every man has, and he has it absolutely.
To love one's neighbour means, while remaining within the earthly distinctions allotted to one, essentially to will to exist equally for every human being without exception. to will to exist openly for other men only in the basis of advantages of one's earthly distinction is pride and arrogance, but the clever intention of not willing to exist for others at all in order secretly to enjoy the advantage of one's peers is cowardly pride. In both instances there is discord.
He who love his neighbour is tranquil. He is made tranquil by being content with the earthly distinction allocated to him, whether it be important or unimportant; moreover, he lets every earthly distinction regain its significance and be taken for what it is and ought to be worth in this life, for one shall not covet what is his neighbours; neither his wife, nor his donkey, nor, consequently, the advantages granted him in life. If they are denied to you, you shall rejoice that they are granted to him. Thus he who loves his neighbour is made tranquil. He neither cravenly shuns those mightier than he, but he loves his neighbour; nor does he proudly shun the less significant, but he loves his neighbour and wishes essentially to be equal to all men, whether he is actually known to many or not.
(Soren Kierkegaard)
2 comments:
Thanks for posting this. Really helped me to understand more about neighbourliness. Heard many sermons about the good samaritan but this short article seems to make the most sense. Perhaps I've been sleeping during the interesting bits ...
:)
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