The Golden Rule

A family member has chosen to launch an attack on our family in a public forum under the guise of a “lyrical essay”. It has taken me hours of internal wrestling this week not to launch the nuclear codes because someone said unkind things about my family, hence me.

So my response to my hurt feelings, to my family member and to anyone and everyone (including Donald) is my own “lyrical essay” on The Golden Rule

With all the recent talk about civility (or lack there of), I could not help but think of The Golden Rule. The awful things people say to each other, and about each other, these days makes me cringe. I believe you can be honest and critical without being hurtful, without taking cheap shots. The pent up hostility and anger of so many is rather scary.

And then I think of The Golden Rule. What if just for today you were slow to anger, you were kind, you remembered The Golden Rule?”

Did you know that every religion/culture has the exact same Golden Rule? For example, in the Buddhist Udana-Varga,” Hurt not others in ways that you yourself find hurtful”. In the Islamic Sunnah, “No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself”. In the New Testament, Matthew 7:12, “All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is the law and the prophets”. And my favorite, because there is so much commentary these days, every one has to have the last word, from the Talmud, Shabbat, “What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow man. That is the entire Law; all the rest is commentary”.

Just imagine if The Golden Rule became the law of man, think what it would do for your stress levels, your health, your family, the world?”

While I’m sure most of you are familiar with the great American illustrator and painter, Norman Rockwell, I was not familiar with his painting The Golden Rule until I visited The Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge MA this past June. The Golden Rule appeared on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post on April 1, 1961 and was reimagined as a mosaic and given to the United Nations from the United States in 1985. Rockwell was a compassionate man and considered himself to be a “citizen of the world”. I work everyday to become one as well and use this picture as a reminder.

 

 

 

Easy Stress Relieving Tip (and believe me, I did this a lot this week): Vietnamese Buddhist monk, Thick Nhat Hanh, one of my favorite authors, has a mantra, Breathing In I am calming myself, Breathing Out I am smiling, Breathing In I am determined to practice deep listening. Breathing Out I am determined to practice loving speech.