God is Love

It is not about being saved or gaining eternal life.
It is not about being enlightened or knowing the truth.
It is not about being perfect or doing what is right.
It is not about being a believer or having the true faith.
It is not about being right or being just.
It is not about being rewarded or not punished.

It is not about being religious, faithful, or spiritual.
It is not about being an intellectual, knowledgeable, or reasonable.
It is not about being beautiful, handsome, or elegant.
It is not about being strong, tough, or resilient.

It is not about happiness, joy, or laughter.
It is not about suffering, pain, or sacrifice.
It is not about peace, hope, or satisfaction.
It is not about creativity, imagination, or art.
It is not about music, philosophy, science, time, space, ...

It is about a boy and a girl's first love, expressed in words for the first time.
It is about a young couple's first look at their new born baby.
It is about an infant's long stare at her mom as she breast feeds.
It is about a toddler's comfort holding his dad's hand.
It is about a older man and his daughter hugging.
It is about a young girl kissing her dad goodnight.
It is about two lovers lost in each others arms.

It is a love story between God and his creation:
"God looked at everything He had made, and He found it good" [Genesis 1:31]
"God saw how good it was" [Genesis 1:10; 12; 18; 21; 25]
"For God so loved the world ... " [John 3:16]
"Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love." [1 John 4:7-8]
"God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him." [1 John 4:16]

This love story is fully expressed in Jesus the Christ, the true God, the true man. A relation with God is perfected only in Christ who is eternally begotten God, true God from true God, true Light from true Light.

It is not about being saved . . . it is about being in love with the One who loved us first and with His beloved children.

The lighthouse

A beautiful lighthouse rises on a cliff in the midst of a peaceful small garden with green grass and plenty of colorful flowers. She reflects God's light on many who are lost near her shores. Proud, not of herself, but of God who sustains her, enlightens her, and guides his loved ones through her.

On a very stormy night, and in a blink of an eye, the ocean waves rose way high upon her and shattered her to pieces in the midst of her garden. The light in her turned into darkness [Luke 11:35]. So great was her fall, and so intense the destruction around her, so much as to resemble an erupting volcano with rushing lava burning all those encountered in her path. Her spirit, stunned by what had happened, cried to God, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" [Mark 15:34]

This is the story of a soul who has lost the light within her when she allowed herself to turn away from her God, from her lover, and roam and flirt with other lovers. Although by His grace she did not loose herself to them, she was weakened by their seduction and stripped from her joy, peace, and wisdom.

When she woke up from this nightmare in a bed of ashes and realized the damage she had inflicted on herself and on her loved ones around her, she was immediately seduced once again, only this time by the spirit of depression, and before she knew it, she had judged herself as unworthy and plummeted into an overwhelming sadness and misery.

It is then that she remembered her lover's words: "When an unclean spirit goes out of someone, it roams through arid regions searching for rest but, finding none, it says, 'I shall return to my home from which I came.' But upon returning, it finds it swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and brings back seven other spirits more wicked than itself who move in and dwell there, and the last condition of that person is worse than the first." [Luke 11:24-26]

Is it too late for her? Is she dead in her mysery? "Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer?" But when she turns to Jesus who calls her by name, she sees him disregarding the message of a dead girl and saying "Do not be afraid; just have faith . . . Why this commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but asleep." [Mark 5:35-39] Jesus takes her by the hand and says " 'Talitha Koum,' which means, 'Little girl, I say to you, arise!' The girl, a child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around."[Mark 5:41-42]

The soul hears then the words of her lover: "Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come with me." [Song 2:10] "I have loved you with an everlasting love, I have drawn you with loving kindness" [Jeremiah 31:3]" She gets up and follows him. The beautiful lighthouse is risen again to reflect God's light on all his loved ones.

One can only understand the relationship between God and the soul through the context of a love story. It is this love story between God and the soul that sheds light on all who seek to understand the two lovers.

St Francis De Sales tells us that God sometimes pours on us an incredible spiritual energy that instantly changes us, but most often He attracts us in a gentle, gradual, powerful way without overwhelming our free will and we must respond fully and not partially to God's call. [St. Francis De Sales 'Living Love']

"Our mind's understanding of truth can be extraordinarily pleasing. But when we are lifted above natural mental processes and perceive the sacred truth of faith, we will experienced unsurpassed joy. The soul will melt with pleasure. . . . We have a thirst that cannot be satisfied by the things of this world." [St. Francis De Sales 'Living Love']