Radical Love: Learning to Accept Yourself and Others

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i have been dealing with my own mental illness for almost a decade. i didn’t anticipate the breakthroughs i would have. Omid Safi is Associate Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where he specializes on Islamic mysticism (Sufism), contemporary Islamic thought, and medieval Islamic history. He received his PhD from Duke University in 2000. Before coming to UNC, he was an Associate Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York. Most of us respond by thinking, “Yes, if my wife and kids would just do what you’re saying, our home would be great! I hope they’re listening!” But we can’t point the finger at others. We must obey this radical command in spite of how others respond or treat us. As someone has said, “The Golden Rule is of no use to you whatever unless you realize that it is your move.” Jesus sums up His directives in this verse. When He says that “you will be sons of the Most High,” he does not mean that you become a child of God by your loving deeds, but rather that you prove or show it in that way. We bear His likeness, just as our physical children bear a resemblance to us as parents. God shows His kindness to ungrateful and evil people by giving them life, health, food, clothing, and many other blessings. Most of these people never express their gratitude to God. Yet He keeps on giving it to them. When we show God’s radical love by being kind to those who mistreat us, by treating others as we wish to be treated, by giving when there’s nothing in it for us, sometimes those in the world will notice and ask, “Why are you different?” That’s when we tell them about God’s love in Jesus.

radical love’ – the history of black queer Britain ‘This is radical love’ – the history of black queer Britain

In reading mystical love poetry of this tradition, it is hard to determine whether a particular poem is meant for a tender young beloved, for the writer's husband or wife, for a spiritual teacher, for the Prophet Muhammad, or for God. The truth of the matter is that it is typically written for all of them, and all at once." In an excerpt from her newly published book – Ethical Portraits – Hatty Nestor talks to Heather Dewey-Hagborg about her artwork that resists surveillance and gender binaries Heather Dewey-Hagborg, Radical Love, 2016; Genetic materials, custom software, 3D prints, documentation; each portrait 8 x 6 x 6 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Fridman GalleryIncredulous of the act, Michael thought Cherry Pie was out of her mind. At some point in the docu, he said he didn’t expect her to forgive him after what he did to the family matriarch. So again, Jesus confronts our selfishness, because to obey this principle we must think of others and not of ourselves. How will the other person feel? How would I feel if I were in his place? A New Year’s resolution read, “Resolve to be tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and the wrong. Sometime in life you will have been all of these yourself.” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow observed, “If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man’s life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.”

The Key to Radical Love | Desiring God

Jesus begins with a general statement, “Love your enemies.” The word is “ agape,” love that is committed to the highest good of the one loved. Such love is not primarily a feeling, but an action stemming from an attitude. Thus it can be commanded. The attitude of love thinks about the other person as a fellow sinner who needs to know the forgiveness of sins that is in Jesus. We were once just as this sinner now is—selfish, blinded by sin, and alienated from God. But thankfully, God showed us mercy. This attitude frees us to act in ways that show God’s love and grace to the wrongdoer. Thus Jesus adds, “Do good to those who hate you.” It is not enough just to refrain from getting even. It is not sufficient to separate yourself from the one who has wronged you. Jesus says that we must actively do good to the wrongdoer! Radical Love, the two portraits, served as a kind of document of their time. The 30-portrait piece, Probably Chelsea, was always something different. It was meant to be shown after she was released, and was expected to be an exploration of different kinds of ideas around identity and challenging identity inscription. It was always intended for her to see upon being free. While this book is marketed as a self-help book, it’s better viewed as a story of one man’s struggle, and from that we can empathize with him and extrapolate how we can forge our own paths forward in our own journeys.Heather Dewey-Hagborg: Years before I met Chelsea, I started developing this process of creating portraits of people from abandoned DNA. I would extract DNA from found genetic artefacts like cigarette butts and hair, then, using software that I wrote, I would turn that genetic information into algorithmically generated 3D portraits, which I would also 3D print in full colour, and exhibit alongside the material and the data. One of the questions I posed while preaching on loving our enemies from Matthew 5:44 was, How do you love the people who kidnap you and then kill you?