I have never believed that. I have always believed in the redeeming value of love and affection. Jesus tells us that "Love the Lord your God... and love they neighbor". If Jesus recommends Love to us, how can it be wrong or go out of style? After living with Franciscan's, my whole idea about God and Jesus and love and forgiveness has changed radically. I have slowly learned that God is interested in us loving him, because he loves us. He loved us so he created us. God is love. I don't know how many times I heard this before I actually HEARD it. Or internalized it. We put up so many barriers to love, whether it be God's or another human's. We are taught that love is something to be earned, not something freely given. Consequently, we can't imagine God freely giving us love. We think we have to earn it. Jesus never said we had to earn love. He always said it was freely given by the Father. Freely given. This is another idea that we find hard to fathom in our mercantile society. We are always looking for free things but we always know there is a catch to them. But there is no catch to God's love. Instructed as we are from childhood in the ways of the world, it often takes our whole lives to unlearn those lessons and learn the lessons of heaven that matter. Back to Page 1 Onward to Page 3 |