Loving ~ Kindness
Dear Friends,
It seems that during the last few years I’ve heard the word loving-kindness used very frequently. I had not noticed the word in general usage until about 2 years ago. Shortly after that I noticed it in the Common Book of Prayer that my brother had given me.
The first edition of that book was from the 1800’s and each subsequent reprint kept the same wording. Then later, while reading the Psalms, I came across the term several times in the King James Version of the Bible.
So I began to wonder; when was the term first used in English? And what was it intended to mean? Thus began my inquiry.
The term loving-kindness (sometimes written as lovingkindness) was first used by Myles Coverdale in his translation of the scripture known as the Coverdale Bible of 1535.
This was the first complete English Bible. It predates the King James Bible by 76 years. Coverdale used this term when he translated the Hebrew word chesed.
In more recent years, the term loving-kindness has been used when translating the Pali word metta.
Chesed is considered to be the primary virtue, necessary for all others. It is a habit that helps to repair the world. It has even been used as a name of God. Chesed also includes the virtue of compassion.
This loving-kindness is not considered to be a passive interest in people and their wellbeing but an active interest. It changes the way we relate to the world.
Our soul longs for this opportunity to grow in loving-kindness, to remove bitterness and greed.
But the world teaches us to be selfish. We have this power to choose how we respond. Do we choose loving-kindness or do we choose selfishness and greed? Do we feed our soul or starve it?
Love,
Gloria
Leave a Reply