Mark 12:28-34
The Greatest Commandment
28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
32 “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.
When Jesus gave us the Greatest Commandments of loving God and loving neighbor, we might think of it as a time when things were simpler, and no or very little technology or modernization...But yet, it was the Best of Times, because our Savior was walking and dwelling on earth...
To those who believe that we need more and more modernization and technology, we must think about that in terms is how much more will affect our health and affect our well being, and our families, and our Spiritual Life...Is the world a better place to live now than it was in Jesus' time or Abraham's time?...Do you think it is better, and can modernization go over with so much modernization, where it affects the child and family structure?...Can modernization reach the top of a bell curve and then cause a decline in family values and Spiritual Values?...I do not want to understate the importance of electricity, lights, modern plumbing, in door running water, TVs, washers and dryers, automobiles, now electric cars, advanced health care, smart phones, computers, and the internet...But after more and more advancements in technology are we affecting the family home and values in the next several years?...
I might challenge one with the statement that Abraham's clan were a closely knit group who helped each other and were emotionally strong, resilient, and had a very strong Spiritual Well Being...All of this with no modern things as we have today...I believe Abraham had a good life...Are we happier than Abraham was?...And Jesus lived a Great Life...Can we make that same statements today?...
Bruce Perry, a specialist in childhood trauma has created a neurosequential model for trauma...His model emphasizes the crucial role of strong, supportive relationships, particularly in early childhood development and for overall well-being and good health...He writes about these things in his book, Born to Love...He believes we are born to love, and love is essential in our lives...
Love is the most important thing in life...It is as Paul wrote, the most important virtues are faith, hope, and love...And the Greatest of these is Love...Paul writes that if we (I) do not have love, I am nothing.
I believe in his work and his neurosequential model and I see more and more technology advancement having its potential downside...The model recognizes that excessive screen time and reliance on technology can disrupt the very important face-to-face interactions and hinder the development of our social-emotional skills...The more screen time one has especially in their early life the less opportunity one has in building the healthy relationships they need and ones who have had too much screen time is affected socially...It is believed that the more screen time will cause one to be less resilient...This can potentially affect family dynamics and human connection...There is evidence that video games can be addictive and add this to the problem of less face-to-face time and less interaction with your family and friends, this can become a problem...We have less time to love, when we are always busy...
Modern family structures and our current trends are continuing today and in the future with more and more technology....This makes family structures and family values having less time in promoting good health...We can recognize and acknowledge that the broader societal trends influencing family structures, such as delayed childbearing, increased individualization, and economic factors that might contribute to smaller families and having less family interaction...Single parent families are no quite common...And all this affects our social-emotional skillset...
As with our first three Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob we see the importance of community and clans...While extended families (clans) might be less common now they where very important thousands of years ago...Dr. Perry might emphasize the importance of building strong support networks within communities or chosen families to provide a sense of belonging and support...We are losing that in the family structures of today...
We seem to have moved more away from very tightly family groups and to a more independent society with both parents working or growing up in a single family environment...We might conclude in today's society we need to be more aware and on guard of the older larger families becoming less and less, the ever more importance in our education, which must now more than ever help us in our social-economic needs and maybe help us be a part of the family group (in this case, the school group or school family) or school clan...And this places much pressure on the school systems to have a different and more social-economic and loving skillset...So we must recognize technology as a tool with both potential benefits and drawbacks...
We must realize the importance of family and community...We must as Jesus did look more at our Spiritual Well Being, and to have the time to love God and to love neighbor...We are in fact Born to Love...Loving God and Loving Neighbor is living, and is life...