Clanging Cymbals

SAT., APR. 11, 1987, 6:43 AM
FARM, STUDY

You hear the title, o son, but you cannot hear a beginning thought. Let your mind be as it can be under My guidance. Hear as I speak to you of clanging cymbals – those who cannot or will not love others. And the observation follows that you can love yourself only as you can love others.

I shall speak positively first. There is much love here in the earth. If newspapers would report the acts of love, of caring, and of compassion rather than the acts of greed, cruelty, and selfishness the picture of the earth would be considerably different. I am pleased that the love I have for the earth, for peoples, and for individuals is felt and then reflected back in love for others.

But why isn’t this a perfect realm in which love is the truly dominant feeling? There are such realms, but the earth is one with competing forces, so that love can be developed and expressed against often strong competition. Thus, part of the orchestration of the earth… and even of families and other small groups… is the presence of clanging cymbals. In your culture there are some who talk about relationships, even study humans as behavioral scientists, even talk about love in academic terms, who just cannot feel and express this essential human/spiritual emotion toward more than a few.

You read yesterday about sexual harassment, and you know that when such actions are perpetrated or imagined genuine love is harder to express. When false forms are evident then those who can and do love may well hold back, fearing misinterpretation. This is unfortunate, but it also is a worthy test of love. Can you be one who loves, even when threatened by clanging cymbals?

In your comment to your class on the quality of their work on the creative exam you could have expressed it as “You show a great capacity to love and to express that love. And you are not often asked to give evidence of these capacities in a class setting. I wish you could know, as I do from reading all of these, how well most of you can do this.” Consider such a statement in one of your remaining class sessions.

You have a good capacity to love, but there still are some from whom you withhold this kind of blessing. You have very little hate, but some “lack of love.” Being aware of this is the first important step toward improvement. Letting your feelings of love for some sort of “flow out over” those for whom you don’t care is the best way. Concentrate not upon their weaknesses and the ways that make them different, even undesirable, to you. Focus on characteristics that are pleasing, and on relationships they have that are commendable.

And, importantly, in your own self, remind yourself of the truth on that stamp on your desk. “Be happy! You are loved.” You know this, but you can let the consciousness of it serve as a means of loving those who are less than loveable.

So, hear that clanging cymbals are one of the challenges of this earth… and, at the same time, are means of spiritual growth. It is important to maintain high academic standards, but more vital to do this without being loveless toward those who cannot or will not be successful. In the academic world some of those who claim to have the highest standards and disparage the abilities of many students are the best examples of clanging cymbals. For it is showing love, not disdain, that one encourages the best in others.