The following was excerpted from Deseret News. To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
“The great religious and philosophical traditions in the world all have teachings that treating others with the same weight and love with which we regard ourselves is the path to peace and enlightenment.” — Sharon Eubank, “Doing Small Things With Great Love”
As the calendar turns and we step — somewhat hopefully — into a new year, many of us feel the familiar tug toward resolutions. We pledge to exercise more, spend less, declutter our homes and stop spending so much time online. These goals aren’t wrong, but they often distract us from things that have a greater impact on our well-being and happiness: our sense of purpose, our relationships with others, our ability to navigate an increasingly challenging and complex world.
What if instead of focusing on self-improvement alone, we began the year with both an individual and a collective resolution rooted in one of humanity’s oldest moral insights — the Golden Rule?
Jesus’ words, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” are the simplest framing of the Golden Rule, but the idea is far older and far more universal than any single phrasing. In Judaism, Rabbi Hillel summarized the Torah thus: “What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor.” In Islam, the Prophet Muhammad taught, “None of you truly believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself.” In Hinduism, the Mahabharata offers: “Do not to others what you do not wish done to yourself.” Buddhism teaches compassion through a similar lens: “Consider others as yourself.” Its simplest expression might be: “Do unto others as if you were the others.”
Different cultures, different eras, different languages, different traditions — yet the same moral heartbeat.
The Golden Rule is deceptively simple. It doesn’t require logic, advanced theology or philosophical training. Most of all, it doesn’t demand perfection. It asks only that we pause long enough to imagine the experience of another person through the lens of our own hearts and minds and then act accordingly. In a time often defined by urgency, speed and conflict, that pause alone would be revolutionary.
