On Love – A Posit worth Pondering

Greetings Dear Reader,

Last night I shared a lovely dinner with my Son, Maxim and his family.  Whilst we were dining he commented on my Valentine’s Day Blog with a posit worth pondering. (The link will take you there if you have not read it.)  In the midst of the excellent steak and roasted vegetables we discussed my expressed view that if one is following the first commandment as expressed by Jesus then one will naturally be following the second.

Maxim’s posit was that it was the opposite.  He suggested that we can only know we are following the first if we are following the second.  I heartily think that both are true.  If my thoughts are not to love every other person then I have no lateral evidence that I love God. 

I should explain this.  Faith and love have vertical and lateral requirements.  James, the physical brother of Jesus, addresses faith by saying that if I say that I have faith and am not doing good things then my faith is lifeless.  Love is the same thing.  I must show my love for God by the love I show to every man. 

If I hope to believe that I love God then I must be able to show that love by the way I treat those he loves.  Since he loves everyone then I must love everyone.  If I do not live out the love I have for my fellow humans then I cannot find a place to stand in saying that I love God.  Others will not see it and I will not be able to say with any authority that I love God.

If I live out my love for those around me when my fallen nature wishes me to be selfish and solitary then I can see evidence that I move out of my love for God.  No matter what construct I build to assure my heart that I have faith in God if I do not act out of love then I have no place to stand.

I ask my Grandson Orion all of the time, “Why does Grandpa do things for you?”  He knows now that the answer is “because I love you.”   All of the theology, tradition, and practice mean nothing if I do not hold a fierce love in my heart for every single person.  They matter to God just as much as I do.  Jesus suffered and died for them too. 

It is loving others that causes me to not act out of my want and perceived need.  It my love for God lived out in my love for others that moves my heart to look up at the stars and pray for my Children and Grand Children.  It is in the transition of a heart once filled with hate and anger that tells me my faith is real.  My love for others is my greatest evidence that I do belive.  But that is a tale for another day.  For now I will just say that my Son is right.  One cannot hope to believe that they love God if they do not love the people he loves so deeply.  On this hangs all our hope of others seeing the truth of the Gospel. 

I thank you Maxim for an excellent dinner and observation.  I love you dearly.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store."