Love Thy Neighbor - Spread Kindness Before It's Too Late

Monday, February 25, 2008 by: Peter Ragnar
Tags: human kindness, health news, Natural News

(NewsTarget) It is said, "You cannot do a kindness too soon, because you never know how soon it will be too late." With that in mind, let me tell you about my neighbors, they're flat out wild!

It all happened several years ago when the mother was murdered in cold blood. She left behind an infant who was still breastfeeding – a tragedy for sure. While it was against the law for us to take in the bereaved offspring, a neighbor did. He was the wild one. By that, I mean he was a big black bear. The tiny orphan bear we named "Cub," and the big male bear we called "Uncle."

The Native Americans often referred to the black bear as "grandfather" and for good reason as you're about to find out. Uncle somehow developed the habit of making a sucking sound. Whenever Cub would hear that sound, I'm sure he must of thought of his mother's warmth and her milk. Of course, Uncle had no milk for Cub but used the sound to get Cub to follow him around.

They became inseparable companions. On hot summer nights we could see them romping together near our garden bathed in moonlight. In early fall, when crickets, cicadas, and tree frogs sing so loudly it's hard to think, you could still hear Uncle making the sucking sound, and of course, there you would find Cub. Well, the years passed like that and maybe with them the memory of Cub's mother. But, do we really forget?

I still haven't forgotten what happened next. Day after day, night after night, I'd go outside and listen for that sweet, nurturing sound. Nothing! Oh yes, the Barred Owl would mournfully call "who who, who hoot a doo"... but no sucking sound. A month passed and one morning I received a call from the state wildlife agent asking me to meet him.

A distant neighbor had called the game warden complaining about an unrelenting strange sound coming out of a nearby hollow. There were several agents and the local game warden scratched his head and said, "The strangest thing I've ever seen, a skinny old male bear refusing to move an inch from the spot – and he's making a sound like he's suckling the breast. That's the place we found a dead two year old, looks like the poachers tried to get him. The old male must have run them off somehow."

Uncle faded back into the wilderness alone. Several years passed, and on a cold and frosty moonlit night I heard a loud sniffing that turned into a sucking sound. I opened the back door and there sat Uncle!

It is said, it is a great luxury in life to be able to pick your neighbors. Well, mine picked me. "Love thy Neighbor?" Oh, yes indeed! It matters little if they stand on two legs or four, because you can never do a kindness too soon, because you never know how soon it will be too late. If an animal can teach us to love our neighbor, what are we capable of as humans?

Is it not by our own acts of kindness, tenderness, and caring that we demonstrate how human we are? It is in the brutality and violent behavior that humans have the potential to become lower than the beast. Through our tender caring for one another, we not only heal the outside world but first the inside world. The scars of resentment, jealousy, anger, and misunderstandings melt away and are replaced by tenderness.

Tenderness is not a quality of the weak, rigid, and intolerant. Tenderness can only be expected from the strong whose powerful hearts have been nourished by tears and aged by trials. By exercising kindness, you create and build bridges between yourself and other living creatures. It is over these bridges that your spirit travels to enter the gates of their hearts.

If you love your neighbor and accept them as they are - without conditions or reservations - you'll be utterly amazed at the gifts of creativity, love, patience, and gratitude you'll develop within yourself.

It is by the first act of loving your neighbor that you come to love yourself and that makes all the difference in the whole world.

Yes, I mean the whole world! You cannot do a kindness too soon, because you never know how soon it will be too late! Love thy neighbor!

Much Love and Success, Peter

About the author

Peter is a most prolific author, having more than 25 books and many courses on human excellence, fitness, and health to his credit. He has been a frequent guest on David Wolf’s The Best Day Ever show.
Additionally, Peter was a 20 time honored guest of syndicated radio talk show host, Bob McCauley’s Achieving Great Health, and has a regular column in the magazine, What Is Enlightenment? titled, Peter Ragnar on Health.
Peter has inspired untold thousands of people by his teachings and Magnetic Qi Gong.
You may have seen his many articles and interviews in Body Mind and Spirit, Inside Kung Fu and Black Belt Magazines and a host of other international publications.
www.PeterRagnar.com