Since God is Love, What Should We Do?
“Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.” - - 1 John 4:7-8
When I was in High School (1964 – 1968), our biology teacher, a Roman Catholic Sister of Charity, had the courage to teach us about evolution. However, my parents were strong believers in creationism. So, this was a setup for some difficult conversations at home. Evolution teaches that the earth is much older than the Bible describes and that humans evolved through a process of natural selection. Creationism teaches that God created the earth and all living things in six days and that humans originated from the biblical ancestors, Adam and Eve. Only a few years earlier, I had to grapple with the notion that Santa Claus was not a jolly old fellow with a glorious white beard. So, my thinking went, maybe God was not a holy old fellow with a glorious white beard either. To work through my confusion, I consulted our young parish priest. “Father” I said, “I might be an atheist. I don’t believe that God is an old, white man with a beard, sitting in the clouds, waiting for everyone to come around and sit with Him. What do you think?” My kind-hearted priest looked at me with compassion and said, “Lanny, your question is a good one. No one has ever seen God’s face. So, your guess about the looks of God are as valid as anyone’s; but here is a question for you. Do you believe in love even though it doesn’t have a face and you haven’t seen it?” I assured him that of course I believed in love. “Well,” said my very wise priest, “God is love!” We had a longer conversation around the subject, but I came away with a refreshed sense of faith, religion, and God. The paradigm shift from a holy, old-man ‘God-in-the-clouds’ to a grand, mysterious ‘God-of-love’ was all that I needed. It opened up worlds of possibilities for my creative imagination. Today, I believe in a combination of evolution and creationism – since before all, God was! As with many things, both/and works quite well. God was and is Love. Wow!
Since God is love, what should we do? A suggestion was given by Jesus when He was asked about the greatest commandment. Christian scripture tells us that Jesus simply answered, we should love God and love our neighbor! We should love Love (God) and share Love (God). It sounds so simple and yet it is so difficult. Wars are being waged on our fragile planet. We use weapons of many kinds to kill one another. Angry words fill political commercials and political conversations. Television shows and movies, all too often, center on hatred and retribution. We can do better. There is a much better way!
My thoughts? Consider manifesting love’s treasures: forgiveness, empathy, reconciliation, mercy, compassion, kindness, humility, generosity, and gratitude. Manifest them always, and pray for God’s help to do so. Jesus was the incarnation of Love - Love on legs! He showed us the way to love God and to love our neighbor – the last, the least, and the lost – the people next door and those far away.
In God’s Love,
Lanny F. Wilson, M.D.
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” - - Matthew 22: 37b - 40
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