Do Relationships Matter?
Let’s think it through.
A friend of mine made an interesting and pretty deep observation that the universe was created for relationships. In other words, as he sees things, all of life is about relationships. That’s a pretty big claim, but the more I have thought about it, the more I think he’s right.
So let’s think about this idea by asking the question, what would our lives be like if relationships did not matter to anyone?
If life is not about relationships then others do not matter.
If others do not matter, then it doesn’t matter what I do to or with them, as long as I am entertained.
Throwing away relationships, like cleaning out the garbage, means I don’t have to care about the lives of anyone I don’t like. This encourages killing the elderly or the infirm when they are no longer of any practical use to me.
Now, if you have looked around, you realize that we have both the selfless and the selfish among us. Not everyone sees relationships as vital to the fabric of the universe like my friend and I do, and frankly, it is not necessary that they must. Being wrong is a right in a free country. However, understand what allows the selfish among us to be able to lead fairly normal lives is the fact that they are in the minority, surrounded and cared for by people who, at least, tolerate them.
Finally, if life isn’t about relationships then there is no possibility for the existence of a loving God, and if a loving God does not exist, I wonder about love itself being anything beyond necessary for species procreation.
True love is about a supernatural capacity to care for others at least to the level of our own survival, if not beyond it. In comparison, unchecked self-love is a terminal illness.
8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. Romans 13:8-10 English Standard Version (ESV)
Thanks Nancy for your insight.
Everybody, think about what we as a society, actually as a world, have just experienced with the masking, lockdowns, and social distancing. This has the most harm on the youngest and oldest among us. We were too willing to go along with it, I think, because we didn’t really appreciate how critical our connections with others is to our health both personally and as a society. Now we definitely need to get back into the relationship garden and start cultivating and caring for one another as possibly never before.
And if anyone in authority wants us to do all that again, I vote we politely decline.
I agree, relationships are the “stuff” of life that matters; but even with The Still Point they must be cultivated, not static, to be of value.