Sending and Receiving Love
A reader touched on a point worthy of comment. He talked about the importance of love, which is of course something we all accept but then he touched on the importance of projecting love through our communications so the other party will feel or at least sense it.
As a group this is something that we should be placing more attention on. Now I’m not singling out any individual here but speaking to the group as a whole.
From time to time we have disagreements and that is fine. Anyone posting should feel free to respectably disagree with me or any other member without being seen as the bad guy.
Then from time to time those disagreements evolve into attacks, irritation, hurt feelings and sometimes outright anger. That is not so fine.
We can take some consolation in the fact that most every group that discusses anything controversial has this happen, but I would like to think that we can be better than most groups.
The key to doing this is to communicate in the spirit of kindness and love even when we disagree or think the other person is out of line. I have attempted to set the example for the group in this area. People have strongly challenged me, disagreed with me and attacked me through the years and I have never responded with name-calling or anger but have always attempted to communicate in such a way that the person would feel that I have his best interests at heart and the hand of friendship is always extended.
Now I am sure there have been times in the midst of heated arguments that the person on the other end wasn’t feeling waves of love coming from me. This may be true, but that doesn’t mean the door is not open. I always attempt to communicate with the love of the soul in mind so if the contentious one opens the door a channel for the love of Christ, it will be available.
This reader is a good example of this. Some time ago he became very disillusioned with me and started arguing against every point I brought up. He went beyond this to attacking me on every level even participating in an anti Keys website.
Through all this I tried to leave the door open though I must admit that he challenged my patience at times. He seemed to disappear for a time and then came back on board. I noticed a change in him and treated his with as much friendship as I would anyone. When I saw his new tone was sincere I took him off moderation and he has been a solid member ever since. He still disagrees with me at times but he is much more respectful.
If you pay attention you can feel the vibration of the person with whom you are communicating. This reader’s vibration now is a lot more loving than it was when he was challenging my every word. He’s not perfect, as he admits, but he is making progress and that is the important thing.
Now one of the problems with us humans is that we tend to believe that we are sending the other guy all the love he deserves or that is possible and if he doesn’t feel love or acceptance from us then that is his problem. That may be somewhat true at times but usually part of the problem lies with the sender.
Here are points to consider if one wishes to make the other feel that he is coming from an aspect of love and has the best interests of the other at heart.
[1] Soul contact is more than an individual thing. It is true that an individual can obtain a degree of soul contact but the greatest endowments come from group effort. If one writes off his brother, he may be writing off greater union with his own soul and group soul.
[2] It is a human tendency to believe one is being as loving and friendly as possible or that the other person deserves. Forget about what the other person deserves or how good of job you are doing – instead listen through the soul to the other guy. Does he feel a loving and friendly vibration coming from you? If not why? Maybe you think you are sending all the love necessary or possible and you are really far from the mark. Do not write off what the other person is feeling – learn from it.
[3] Have patience and tolerance for the other guy’s faults and mistakes. People hate to be corrected and often see correction or criticism as an unloving thing to do. Only correct others when you think they will appreciate it or you are nudged by the soul to do so.
[4] Do not insult the other person or use any type of name-calling.
[5] Be slow to take offense, for often no offense is intended.
[6] Say positive things about the other guy whenever possible. This will help keep the door of loving communication available.
May we set our sights on the good of the group as a whole and do our part in making it a place where love can be found.
Question About Art
Question: R.I.P Thomas Kinkade a wonderful painter. Kinkade died on Fri. For some reason he is one of the most successful artists ever becoming a mufti-millionaire selling his paintings, yet at the same time is he one of the most criticized artists ever. I read nothing but negative comments about his artwork with the exception of a few nice comments.
Cn you explain why most people seem to dislike the beautiful paintings that Thomas did? Others may disagree.
JJ: I’m not a big follower of the art world but do appreciate talent when I see it. I’ve read neither the praise nor the criticism of his art but after looking at some samples I believe I can answer your question.
The quality of his art is very good and distinctive but it reflects conservative values like Norman Rockwell and the Left has a knee jerk reaction to conservative values these days. In their minds it has no value. They see nothing good in the traditional 1950s type of values and will attack anyone who has anything good to say or project of them.
On top of this many become critics of the various arts because of a feeling of superiority and will attack things of value just to illustrate their supposed higher powers of discrimination.
Art helps people to tune into the possibilities of the inner world and renew their spirits.
There never was a child so lovely but his mother was glad to get him asleep. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
April 16, 2012
Join JJ’s Facebook group HERE
JJ’s Amazon page HERE
Easy Access to All the Writings
For Free Book go HERE and other books HERE
> The quality of his art is very good and distinctive but it reflects conservative values like Norman Rockwell and the Left has a knee jerk reaction to conservative values these days. In their minds it has no value. They see nothing good in the traditional 1950s type of values and will attack anyone who has anything good to say or project of them.
Kinkade’s paintings are skillful. There is no doubt about that, but they’re not exactly interesting or creative. They’re not really portraying 1950s values. They’re portraying a derivative idyllic fantasy about 1950s values. The result is a nauseatingly sentimental expression that comes off as being two-faced.
That two-faced expression becomes even more obvious when you consider that Kinkade was an abusive alcoholic and drug addict who often cheated the galleries he worked with and used Christianity as a marketing gimmick. There are those true 1950s values right there. The fact that his admirers seem eager to point out how much money he made also accounts for poor taste and poor morals.
While I’m sure Kinkade’s paintings would look nice in grandma’s 1970s dining room, as far as art goes, it’s generic slop that follows an algorithm. AI could churn out Kinkade works better than he ever could.
> On top of this many become critics of the various arts because of a feeling of superiority and will attack things of value just to illustrate their supposed higher powers of discrimination.
You’re not wrong but, in your own way, you’re also guilty of the same kind of behavior when you call criticism of Kinkade’s paintings a “knee jerk reaction,” as if there is no validity to the criticisms. It’s the same old problem with you. The Left doesn’t indulge your boring idyllic fantasies, so they’re just big meanies.
> The key to doing this is to communicate in the spirit of kindness and love even when we disagree or think the other person is out of line. I have attempted to set the example for the group in this area.
You attempt to live up to this ideal and fail, just like Kinkade’s paintings. All I have to do is pull up your Twitter account and look at all the various replies you make where you insult people’s appearances, promote reactionary rage-bait, and even occasionally indulge racist talking points. No form of communicating this to you has worked, as you just try to hide it and declare it off topic. It’s another example of the two-faced expression found in Kinkade’s work. It’s not surprising that you find his work appealing.
Your accusations of my writings on X are extremely distorted thanks to your extreme bias.
The first time I brought up your Twitter activity, I didn’t make any accusations. I just posted screenshots of things you said and let that speak for itself. Then, you deleted those screenshots and declared them as off-topic political attacks. The only logical explanation for that is you are trying to craft an image of yourself that distracts from who you really are. In other words, being an inauthentic two-faced coward.
If I am wrong, then by all means, use that inward sense and all that “study and contemplation” you’ve done to explain why I’m wrong instead of making an empty declaration. These one-line statements that amount to nothing more than “nuh-uh” are lazy, especially for someone who brags about writing “millions of words.”