31.7.17

Hard to do or hard concept to understand?


... "whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them."  As a school counselor, I had to study and learn and use Maslov's Hierarchy of Needs as I thought of and counseled others.  Here is an abbreviated list:

• Physiological needs (air, water, food, shelter, clothing)
• Safety (personal security, financial security, health)
• Love/Belonging (social belonging, family, intimate relations, mentors, colleagues)
• Esteem (respect from others, respect for yourself)
• Self-Actualization (desire to accomplish all that one can to be all one can be!)

Maslow thought that these needs were all inter-related and dependent on each of the other steps.  What I have noticed and seen, not only in the counseling I've done, but also as I have had relationships and seen the lives of others, is that when one of those needs is completely or almost completely lacking (i.e. if somebody has no food or water or air), he or she is incapacitated to some degree while attempts are made to fulfill that need.

While it is true that some or all of you is incapacitated, on some level, a person continues to function (also, in some degree) until death.  Nor is it true that simply because one or two or even all but the life-sustaining-needs are ignored or not fulfilled, that you (one) is (are) kept from offering or fulfilling those needs for others (i.e. a dying mother rescues their child or gives away their last nourishment to their child).

These examples are understandable and even expected, whereas Jesus Christ's injunction and commandment applies to everyone in every and any circumstance: "whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them."  He asks us to satisfy (or more, if we can) one or all of the needs, just as we roam the Earth seeking to satisfy or fulfill our own needs (physiological needs [air, water, food, shelter, clothing]), etc. and these can be the most simple to accomplish, because of money...

JPS

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