Dec 19, 2016

 

Follower of Jesus (6)

“The most important one” answered Jesus,

“is this: ‘Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, The Lord is one Lord.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart

And with all your soul and with all your mind

And with all your strength.’

And the second is this:

‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

There is no commandment greater than these.” (5)

Mark 12:29-31

But how about us humans? Where do we fit in these tales of Love? Love as expressed by humans cannot be spelled out as any single type. Love in the human sphere is a continuum:

Ego love——————–?———————————–soul love

We humans have many types of love, all lying somewhere along the line from ego love to soul love. We are called to live in soul love, but early in life we start with the mixture that is soul love for our parents if our childhood was filled with love, and ego love as we enter the world of competition in our schools. Now, the world where we learn to live, primarily the schools, is designed to enable us to grasp the golden ring, or to be rich and comfortable in this life. Some make that their world goal, while others see the error of that approach and seek to help others in their way of life. Thus humanity lies in many areas along that line from ego love to soul love.

As we mature, we begin to see how a more selfless love is beneficial in bring us happiness and joy in life. And so we move from along the line of love, heading towards that bliss of soul love that is ours for the taking. If we are fortunate, we encounter pain and sorrows in our life that will help us into “the second half of life”, espoused by the Franciscan priest Richard Rohr, wherein we begin the understand the depth of the Love of God and the infinite power that it contains. My term ‘soul’ love’ cannot describe that infinite love; no words can; only the experience of that love can describe it. Soul love is only a term; the experience of that love is mind-blowing, or as St. Paul expressed it: “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up in the third heaven. Whether in the body or out of the body I do not know-God knows.” (2 Corinthians 12:2 (NIH)). Most of us have not had that experience; I too know someone who was blessed with what seems a similar experience December 2-3 1967; and as reported, no words can suffice to describe the experience.

We are called to move ourselves along that line from ego love to soul love, starting fresh each day. That is truly the purpose in life that each of us have, not some grandiose thing, but to learn to experience the love that lies within us in its’ fullness.

Maturity in life brings us face to face with our mortality, and face to face with that infinite Love of the Divine. We discover that we cannot hurt God in any way; that God lives in Love at all times, and that Love fills us and forms us such that nothing we can do will destroy that love. Indeed, God, like the father in the parable, loves us no matter what we have done, and we suddenly understand that it is impossible for that Love to ever put us in everlasting pain or even neglect; that there cannot be a hell. Hell is impossible, for it flies in the face of the infinite Love of God that fills us and forms us, and as Jesus said, “that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” (John 17:21 (NIH)). This is not just a wish by Jesus; it is a statement of fact: we are all one; we are one in the dance of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (otherwise known as the Trinity). We cannot, ever, be separated from that dance.

Not ever!

The call from the Spirit is ever present, and we cannot hide from that call, as it is part of who we are as human, that very image of God.

Where we are along that line of love is where we are, and our ongoing task is to move along in this life so that at our life’s end we will just be able to walk into that world of the Spirit and say “YES”.

Meditation

My God, I come to you in gratitude for this gift of life that you honor me with this day. Each day seems to float in and pass by, even though I strive to see You in the multitude of facets that I see every day, it seems like I am always surprised when I discover a new joy in life – and every day is a new joy in life. I am amazed each day to find that joy and love that fills the atmosphere around me. I am grateful for every opportunity that I receive to extend Your love in this beautiful world. I pray for all around me that they see greater and greater oceans of love that are present, in each and every human, animal, plant, and yes, every material part of our universe, for Your Love shines forth in all that is in the universe.

 

 

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