We tend to think of love as finding someone or making someone acceptable to us or what we think God find acceptable. But that’s not love. When others don’t or can’t change then it is supposedly time for “tough love” (guilt, condemnation, exclusion) – which is really more like “soft hate” or basic apathy.

I think when we experience and our encouraged by our systems (family, work, church, school, etc) to engage in real love – the kind that accepts, hopes, believes and gives — Christianity will become a more loving entity.

Thanks so much for your comment. Wow – you really did add so much to this post.

I saw an RSA Animate about open sourcing and sharing (knowledge, skill, information) being the new paradigm and how the ideas and value of profit are changing. I do think it is one of the hopeful signs for our future.

If you wouldn't mind a little extra input, a couple of things occur to me about this:

1) I get the idea from the Tao Te Ching that it's also hinting that what you possess may also possess you. If you can't let it go, you set yourself up for a hard time… like the old sayings about keeping rocks in your backpack that make your load heavy.
2) I *have* a brother, but I don't *possess* a brother. Substitute wife, boyfriend, child, whatever. Then you can work down from that as you see that you coexist with everything. You and X coexist, but in reality, you own nothing.
3) (Okay, one more… I work a lot in the open source community, and that's the mandate. “I created this, but I release it to the world to be used.” I think in reality, that that is truth with any media you let go into the world. Art of any kind.

Yah, this can get really deep…

Thanks a lot, and keep up the excellent work!

PS I love Pea Green Coffee Cup too I just havent got around to officially fanning it.