From William B. Smart and his book “Messages for a Happier Life”:
In “The Wizard of Oz” is a passage that cries out for understanding and, when understood, tells us much of what we need to do.
The tin man is looking for a heart. In his search, he encounters the wizard, who teaches him the profound truth: “It is not how much you love, my friend, but by how much you are loved, that a heart is measured.” We are taught to love. Loving God and loving our neighbors are the first two commandments. Part of the Savior’s mission was to teach us, by example and precept, to love.
But just loving is not enough. What the Savior taught over and over—and what the wizard was saying—is that love cannot be passive. Unless it leads us to service, unless it causes us to reach out, to live the kind of life, be the kind of person, that is loved by others; it is not really love; at least it is not Christlike love.
So we love our neighbor, including our non-LDS neighbor. What do we do about it? Do we love him/her enough that they love us? There are potential barriers to that kind of relationship. One is the nature of our faith. It is so fulfilling. It takes so much of our time and energies. It enriches us with such rewarding relationships and fills our lives in such satisfying ways that it is easy to slip into the rut of treating with benign neglect those who are not also involved.
A more pernicious barrier may grow, if we’re not careful, from the conviction of the rightness of our beliefs and lifestyle. Such conviction can lead to rejection of those with different beliefs and life-styles. Or, in our eagerness to share what we have with others, it can lead into the trap of viewing those, not of our faith only as potential converts, not as friends who can enrich our lives.
That is not what the Savior taught. And it is not what His servants are teaching. We have been repeatedly exhorted by General Authorities to love our neighbors, and specifically warned that differences in personal standards and social activities cannot justify ostracism or unkindness toward those of other beliefs. If the heart is judged by how much one is loved, people who fall into that unkindness trap will be found wanting.
But there is another reason than the fear of judgment for reaching out to others. Diversity can be so enriching. There is so much to learn, so much to enjoy, from many good people of other cultures and other religions who are among us.
Such a man died recently and another man spoke at his funeral. “One does not have to be an especially brilliant student of likes and dislikes of the Deity to be confident that the Lord loves a cheerful man,” the speaker said. “God somehow seems to put on this earth a sufficient number of joyful persons to keep the rest of us from drowning in our tears.
“The Creator, no matter who or what we perceive Him to be, put us on earth to get along with one another, to cherish our being together, to love each other in gratitude for His having put us here and in our anticipation of our rejoining Him at some unknown but inevitable time.
“Loving all people was the nature of our friend. Each of us knew that instantly when first we met him. The warmth of his greeting told us; the happiness of his smile.”
“None of his virtues could remain hidden in the sunshine of his personality.”
“He loved his neighbor not because it is mandatory but because he instinctively knew that was the way to live on this earth, and the only way.”
All this was truly said; he was just such a man. There are many such men and women among us, and many such men as who gave the eulogy.
How much poorer are we, how much we deprive ourselves if we fail to make such neighbors our friends. ~~William B. Smart, “Messages for a Happier Life”:
