The Pilot

I have wanted to “blog” my thoughts for sometime now. I seem to feel better and appreciate life to a greater extent when I am able to verbalize my thoughts. Perhaps the same will hold true by typing my thoughts in a box on a website. Only time will tell. I don’t, at least as of right now, want my thoughts to be focused on one particular political issue or something like that. Rather, I see this as an opportunity to share my thoughts with people as a means of emotional therapy and a way in which I can hear the thoughts and opinions of others.

Why are we always so willing to judge other people for their shortcomings while we can always find a way to excuse our inexcusable thoughts, behaviors and attitudes? The deeper ramifications of this question have passed in and out of my memory since I had taken a social psychology class, last spring, at the college that I attended. Social psychologists have named this phenomenon the fundamental attribution error and have witnessed the manifestation and reality of this phenomenon through history and across cultures. In short, people find a way to justify their poor behaviors for themselves and attribute their shortcomings to the situation at hand. However, when I see my co-worker, family member, or the guy at the gym mess up, I attribute his behavior to his lack of character, not the situation into which he was placed. It seems that people do not have a problem with loving themselves. That is for certain. However, why do we have such a difficult time loving others? Are people really that evil and egotistical, or is it something more than that? People like Jesus have said that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. In terms of how this teaching relates to social psychology and the fundamental attribution error, I guess it starts with understanding the power of the environment to shape peoples’ behaviors and attitudes. It seems to go much deeper than that, though. Perhaps by understanding that God loves us unconditionally, I can in turn love my neighbor unconditionally. The reason that God loves us without end is because he looks upon us with unconditional grace. Why do I permit the flow of grace stop between God and me! It seems to me that they key to loving my friends, co-workers and family members unconditionally is by allowing God’s grace to flow through me- to love people for who they are, not what they do. I guess that I also need to love myself for who I am, not what I do since that is how God love me. Perhaps others can resonate with my shortcomings in terms of loving others unconditionally. It seems like such a simple concept to love people. This change, it seems, requires a desire to relate to others in an entirely different manner- an approach that contradicts what the world teaches- love based on effort.