love is not hateâitâs indifference. It makes me think of the indifference of most people to overpopulation, to global warming and, to those dying from starvation and disease. If so many of us are indifferent to others, we mustnât have learned how to love. I hope your people are doing better than the rest of us. Chuck.â
ââWeâre doing our best. But we are a very small country. We need the powerful nations to follow our lead. But it seems that they are using their time to pursue riches rather than human values and human survival.
THE INGREDIENTS OF LOVE
âTime is a necessary ingredient of love. One cannot show love without devoting a certain amount of time to the object of one's love. In evaluating how much you love a person, you must honestly judge both the quantity and the quality of time spent with and for that person. A father might devote many hours with his son coaching him in athletics. He coaches the boy in Pop Warner football and Little League baseball and spends a great deal of time with the boy. But, if the natural interest and inclination of the boy is to play the piano, the father is not helping the boy toward his natural fulfillment. The father spent a great quantity of time, but the quality of time was not too meaningful for that particular boy. What if a girl wants to spend more time in athletics? Will the parents spend as much time fostering her interests as they would do with her brother?
âMore often it is the quantity of time that is lacking. Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote that âRings and jewels are not gifts, but apologies for gifts; the only true gift is a gift of oneself.â How often do we see the financially successful parent working as many as seven days a week, playing golf with business associates during free time, seldom seeing his or her family. But he or she buys them off with gifts. Son gets a new car. Daughter is sent to the finest boarding school and the best summer camps. This person has put time into what he or she values the job. The money earned is then traded to buy off those whom are supposed to be loved. We can tell what people value by the amount of time they spend in various activities.
âPerhaps it is better said that we can tell what people think is important to them by where they spend their time. There are not enough hours in the day for most people. Where do you guys spend your hours?â
--âIâve experienced that when people date they generally spend a great deal of time together.
ââWeâre doing our best. But we are a very small country. We need the powerful nations to follow our lead. But it seems that they are using their time to pursue riches rather than human values and human survival.
THE INGREDIENTS OF LOVE
âTime is a necessary ingredient of love. One cannot show love without devoting a certain amount of time to the object of one's love. In evaluating how much you love a person, you must honestly judge both the quantity and the quality of time spent with and for that person. A father might devote many hours with his son coaching him in athletics. He coaches the boy in Pop Warner football and Little League baseball and spends a great deal of time with the boy. But, if the natural interest and inclination of the boy is to play the piano, the father is not helping the boy toward his natural fulfillment. The father spent a great quantity of time, but the quality of time was not too meaningful for that particular boy. What if a girl wants to spend more time in athletics? Will the parents spend as much time fostering her interests as they would do with her brother?
âMore often it is the quantity of time that is lacking. Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote that âRings and jewels are not gifts, but apologies for gifts; the only true gift is a gift of oneself.â How often do we see the financially successful parent working as many as seven days a week, playing golf with business associates during free time, seldom seeing his or her family. But he or she buys them off with gifts. Son gets a new car. Daughter is sent to the finest boarding school and the best summer camps. This person has put time into what he or she values the job. The money earned is then traded to buy off those whom are supposed to be loved. We can tell what people value by the amount of time they spend in various activities.
âPerhaps it is better said that we can tell what people think is important to them by where they spend their time. There are not enough hours in the day for most people. Where do you guys spend your hours?â
--âIâve experienced that when people date they generally spend a great deal of time together.