Excerpt from Pierre Pradervand’s book The Gentle Art of Blessing
https://pierrepradervand.com/the-gentle-art-of-blessing/
A spirit of judgment (with its derivations of labeling, cheap criticism, and above all the habit of comparing people and their achievements) represents the social evil par excellence. Judgment entertains fear in all areas, kills spontaneity and creativity, crushes joy in its claws, feeds gossip and the spreading of murderous tidbits of personal opinion, poisons hearts and minds, sows doubt.
If you ever, even for a few days, had the opportunity to live with others in an atmosphere devoid of all criticism and judgment, where you were accepted unconditionally just as you are, with your strengths and weaknesses, you are aware of what an extraordinary experience this is. Creativity, joy, and spontaneity burst forth, hearts open, trust and self-confidence blossom.
The expression of unconditional love, including the art of blessing, constitutes the most fundamental force for and affirmation of life. As Flying Eagle says to his friend Patton Boyle, “Love is on a deeper level than feelings. You cannot always detect it with your feelings … Love is a dimension like time or space.”
…Love is possibly the only thing in the universe that is at the same time its own cause, means, and end.
The law of unconditional love assures us that, however difficult the challenge, if we persevere, we shall always win. The victory may not take the form we expected or hoped for, but it will in some way further our progress ….There are no neutral thoughts. Every single thought is charged with a certain quality of energy. And, when charged with love, every thought can contribute to the healing of the planet and the transfiguration of the world. In a period of history where so many people feel powerless to influence world events, is that not an astonishing and most heartening realization? Irish philosopher Edmund Burke noted two centuries ago that the greatest mistake was to do nothing, alleging as a pretext we could only do a little. Or as my favorite Arabic proverb has it, “The person who really wants to do something finds a way, the other person finds an excuse!”
Each of us, by the quality of our thoughts, can become an agent of transformation to the world.
