Blog 1075 – 08.05.2018
Jealousy Is Crueler Than The Grave
Today’s title is from an ancient proverb and says so well what jealousy truly is. Many people however think jealousy is a sign or proof of love. That is so far from the truth. Jealousy is a sign of a complete misunderstanding of not only who we are but what love is. Love is who we are and and just as there are no chains on love, but what we imagine, there are no limits on us or anyone else’s ability to be ourselves or to love whomever we will.
I recently mentioned another favorite song from my youth, Neil Sedaka’s Walking In The Rain With The One I Love. I love walking in the rain and driving in it even more and for sometime now I have realized that I am always with the one I love, me. Oh, and it is nice to share a trip in the rain with another but I am quite convinced that we only begin to enjoy the company of another soul when we first realize that the one within us is Holy and Whole. I have pictured and written about, several times now, the pocket medallion that I carry to remind me of that fact. (pictured again above)
As a cocky young man home from Basic Training in the Army I remember feeling pretty self assured with my pretty two years younger girl friend who said I was looking good. When some other pretty girls walking by gave me the eye and my girl said she was jealous I replied, “Well, would you want me if no one else did?” I have thought of that moment many times and I think I really missed the import of that moment till now. It was not the pretty girls, my girl friend and the others, nor the pride that I felt when she said I looked good in a white tee shirt, nor was it her silly jealousy that I had caught the other girls attention. It really was all about me. I was for at least that moment awake to something in me that was attractive and worthy of attention. I had always been a shy, backward, unassuming lad, and very insecure. My brief time away from home and the rigorous Army training had awakened not just my confidence but some self awareness of who I was. Oh, it would be many years and much more life experience before I really came to know Who and Whose I really am, but I can say to you today that I am not jealous of anyone nor wish anyone to be jealous of me but wherever I go, rain or shine, sleet, or snow that I am walking, riding, and driving with the one I love – me, and that I am ready, willing and so much more able to share that love with everyone I meet along the way.
Your friend and fellow traveler,
David White
