Who loves God? (Hands shook
up in the air amid choruses of “Oo, oo, I do!
I do!”)
Exodus 20:6
And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that
love me, and keep my commandments.
(Weird! I
promise you, even though this verse is the one directly after the verse I
received last week, it, like the other, WAS RANDOMLY GIVEN to me! Freaky weird.
But, I guess that is true randomness… or perhaps divine providence…. Anyway…)
Who can we say really, truly loves God? Perhaps some may think of the Pope or a very
pious nun, others of a peaceful and devout Imam or a deeply spiritual Rabbi or a
wise and generous Lama – or an innocent, joyful child or that elderly person you
know who has given so much of his or her life to taking care of other people
and serving the local community of worship.
The ones who love God, we can say, are the people of peace and charity,
of forgiveness and goodwill, of compassion and joy, who are steadfast in their
faith, unwavering in their hope, and self-giving in their love, people of deep
prayer and spiritual belief. Of whom
does the question make you think?
I don’t usually recommend thinking of other people
when a question is asked or a teaching is given – usually, I try to apply the
question or teaching to myself so that I won’t get caught up in pointing
fingers. But, in this case, I believe
that it is good if, when hearing the question “Who loves God?”, our minds
instinctively go to other people whom we believe to be most worthy of a title
such as “One Who Loves God”. Otherwise,
we might be too full of pride. I do
consider myself as one who loves God and would even gladly identify myself in
this manner. But… I know that loving is
not something that one merely feels or even chooses by assenting in a kind of
intellectual way. Loving must be
lived. We love, not only with our
thoughts and words, but also with our actions, our souls – we love with the
entirety of our beings. So, I ask
myself, with my whole life, with my every living moment: do I love God?
In the Bible Burst that I wrote just previously to
this one, I explored the question of who hates God. My ultimate answer, which I realize now is
very startling and seemingly harsh, was that anyone who hates a human being
hates God. I stand by that statement. Truly, because I believe that every human
being is created in the image and likeness of God and loved by God, I believe
that if I hate another person – or even hate myself – I am despising God, upon whose
image and likeness I am directing my hatred.
Yes, humans are capable of the most vile, willful cruelty and disgusting
acts of evil – but no one, no human being is irredeemable to God so long as he
or she has a functioning will. Any
person, no matter how viciously minded, can choose at any moment to
change. A mass murderer can want to do
good and, in the course of exercising some small mercy, may come to see his
murderous deeds as wrong and experience true remorse and repentance. This is the start of one who hated God
journeying toward reconciliation with God and it is a gift that God gives to
everyone.
We must want this journey of mercy for every mean hearted person if we are truly going to be people who love God. We must hope and pray for the conversion of all sinners – especially of the worst and certainly including ourselves. If we truly love God then we will want what God wants – and God wants every one of his beloved human beings to know mercy, to know love, to know faith and hope. And how can they know unless they are told, unless they are shown? And who will it be that shows them? Are we waiting for God to take care of it with lightning bolts or plagues or a visiting host of heavens angels? God wants us to love one another and sends us to the needy (those who suffer from the poverty of love and mercy and hope) and to the imprisoned (those who are captives to greed and vengeance and selfishness) to bring hope of salvation, which is the gift of God’s love. We, created in God’s image, are to minister to our fellow divine images, especially to those who may have lost the loving brilliance of their identities. It is a privilege, an honor, and a blessing to be able to show the Light of the World to those living in darkness – showing the radiance of the Light by reflecting it with our souls. For, Divine Love shines forth through us in our every act of true love – “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”[1]
We must want this journey of mercy for every mean hearted person if we are truly going to be people who love God. We must hope and pray for the conversion of all sinners – especially of the worst and certainly including ourselves. If we truly love God then we will want what God wants – and God wants every one of his beloved human beings to know mercy, to know love, to know faith and hope. And how can they know unless they are told, unless they are shown? And who will it be that shows them? Are we waiting for God to take care of it with lightning bolts or plagues or a visiting host of heavens angels? God wants us to love one another and sends us to the needy (those who suffer from the poverty of love and mercy and hope) and to the imprisoned (those who are captives to greed and vengeance and selfishness) to bring hope of salvation, which is the gift of God’s love. We, created in God’s image, are to minister to our fellow divine images, especially to those who may have lost the loving brilliance of their identities. It is a privilege, an honor, and a blessing to be able to show the Light of the World to those living in darkness – showing the radiance of the Light by reflecting it with our souls. For, Divine Love shines forth through us in our every act of true love – “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”[1]
So, again, I ask myself if I really, truly love
God. Only God knows the truth of my
heart. Only God can see with infinite
clarity the brilliance of my soul – and know whether or not I have sullied it
with hate.
Christina Chase
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