Toru Sato leads us through dynamics of human interactions as we develop in his little book, The Ever-Transcending Spirit: The Psychology of Human Relationships, Consciousness, and Development.
He looks at this over a time period and concludes, “As evolution progresses, we have become more and more attentive and respectful of each other’s needs and desires.”
Ancient religious leaders saw this as a goal, even a command, about how to live.
Jesus left two commands that were bound intimately together:
The most important one is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
Later Jesus explained about loving your neighbor by expanding the definition beyond that expected by his listeners. He implied that our neighbor is whomever is in need and we can help.
Sometimes these days we can scan social media and look only for the opposite of attentiveness and respect—of which there is way too much.
On the other hand, there was a large mix of white faces amongst the Black Lives Matter protests. And the protests went global. Maybe, little by little, we are living out maturity through our being attentive and respectful to others.
[Note: I’ve changed my book links to bookshop.org in rebellion against Amazon. Twenty years ago, Amazon was cool and convenient. But it grew in size and power. This is a way to help out the local independent bookshop who will help you out and not be obnoxious with your data. Yet another way to be attentive and respectful.]
Faith Venture 
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