When Jesus was asked what is the most important commandment, he said, "Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength." Then he said, "And love your neighbor as yourself."
So really, it seems a bit like cheating. But the more I think about it, the more it seems you cant love God and not love others. Its like an inside out sort of thing. Jesus knew that if we loved God, we would in turn love others. 1 John 4:8 says God is Love. The whole verse says "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love".
What's so hard about this...? Well, unfortunately everything.
In our worlds we don't know "Love". Love is unconditional. God's love is unconditional. We've grown up only knowing conditional love. We try to please God in ways we think we can gain his favor. The same way we try to gain favor from peers, parents, teachers, b/fs and g/fs. We set up rules to follow in order to feel closer to him (Religion). I mean, its the premise of all religions: Follow these rules in order to gain God's love. (I mean, really. That's why most the time I'll tell you, I gave up on religion to follow Jesus.) We think we can lose God's love. We think we can make him stop loving us! All while we wonder why such a being would even CARE about us! Let alone LOVE us in such a way that we can never lose his love.
We all know we have this hunger inside us for love. For acceptance. For intimacy. Community. Its goes on and on. They all point to love. And unfortunately, we stuff that hunger with temporary fixes. We all do it. Us 'Mericans love our quick fixes! Its silly that most of us even know what will satiate that hunger... but continue to search and stuff.
So as "Christians", or as I prefer, "Christ Followers", we are called to Love. Unconditionally. Man that's easier said than done. Love hurts sometimes. A lot of times. Love has to do with putting others first. Way first. And a lot of times love can be hidden, or hard to see or feel. And sometimes love hurts to receive, like being confronted by a friend about a problem. But Love is not passive. If love was passive, God would not have come to this earth in bodily form to lay down his life for us.
I've been reading Erwin McManus's "Soul Cravings" this week. Go to amazon.com, splurge $10 on this amazing book. Its helping everything to make sense to me.
So I guess I'm a little behind on my Catholic News, but I heard we got some new deadly sins!! Way to go Pope, give us more rules! Condemn those silly scientists for seeking cures! Condemn those who take birth control! Wow. Really? There are a lot of days I'm glad I'm not Catholic. And apologies to any of those who are, no offense intended. I just feel like someone is missing the point.
Sorry, a lot of this is scatter brained and (dare I say) "religious". Some of this is just stream of thought. Most of this is just venting. Hope something in here makes sense to someone.
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4 comments:
so, i went to amazon and read the excerpt, and it's pretty intriguing--hits right to the "heart" of matters (bahaha). what is funny is that the first quote from christopher marlow is from a poem that university singers sang last semester AND that was read at my mom and stepdad's wedding. how weird is that.
i really think you would be interested in reading the pilgrim's progress--it's this christian allegory by john bunyan, NOT the bunyan who chopped down trees, who i thought it was for a really long time. anyway, in the cheesy and quite hilarious animated adaptation of it on youtube, there is this quote that goes: "good works are not the cause; they are the effect." reading this blog totally reminded me of that quote.
i hope this comment is not misleading--i just really enjoy reading what you post and always want to respond.
i feel like although we mess up the rules and think that their purpose is to gain God's approval, there is still a need for rules. i mean, it's just the way humans are built. we need rules. as much as a lot of us wish we could just love God freely and know what is right and wrong and what He wants, i really don't think it's possible. in my opinion. i mean, i'm a little confused still about my own stance on religion, but i think that it's really saying something to undermine such a long tradition that started with Peter who was appointed by Jesus himself. but yes, humans have messed it up. where the mess up happened, i don't know.
so much for this being a photoblog. :) and i appreciate this post, keith, even if it's just a blog with no concrete, life meaning behind it. whatever its purpose, i still appreciate it. hope you are having a good spring break.
I'm not real sure, but I think replying here is the most proper.
I still dont feel as though rules are the answer. I think if our heart is aligned with God's through Love, the rest will follow. Jesus said "Follow ME", not "follow all these rules".
I think rules can be good for some people. But I do not believe they are the answer when it comes to our relationship with God.
Just some more cents.
scents
i just wish i knew what Jesus meant when he said "upon this rock i will build my CHURCH."
i have thought about it, and when i say that people need "rules," i mean that people need an institution that they can go to to celebrate their faith with other people and to receive advice about living a christian life. so maybe i should have said that people need structure. so my next question is, what rules are you meaning when you say "religion"?
sense
Well, looks like I'm sticking with replying on this.
Ok. Peep this:
http://members.aol.com/twarren11/rock.html
for the Jesus building his church thing. Or just read it in context (Matt 16:18).
The church and rules and religion and structure are all different things. I believe in church. Yes. With all my heart, I believe real community is the answer. When I refer to rules within religion and attempting to acquire God's love I'm talking about things like mitzvahs for jewish people (the 613 commandments to follow), the five pillars of islam, or even strapping bombs to yourself and murdering innocent people to gain god's favor (not that I'm lumping all Islamic people in that category, I'm speaking in an extreme), and I dont know much about catholicism but the sacraments sound like they might fall into that category (or even the "NEW AND IMPROVED 7 DEADLY!".
Dont hear me wrong on all this, community and "church" are majorly important things. Structure I believe is a little over rated, but some people need it. I think it helps to be more organized, but I dont think its the answer. People need community, but not institution. Not that there's anything wrong with institution either, but its the body that they need.
I'm still wrestling with it. But thats where I'm at so far.
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