during the past several days, i've been beginning each part of my morning meditation with the words, "o divine love." after each formal affirmation, each "may i," i continue to think those words through the remainder of my meditation time. as i've done that, i've begun noticing a change in my thought patterns and in the way i consider God. there's been a perceptible softening of my attitudes towards myself and others. i've begun to see that thinking of God as "divine love" takes me beyond the god of the bible, the god of the church, and seeing God as the encapsulation of love that cannot be bound by our narrow conceptions, a love that is unconditional, boundless, incapable of doing harm, infinitely good. such a God is far greater than the small god that wreaks havoc on those who fail to worship correctly, the god of vengeance that much of the bible describes, the god who choose one particular tribe of people over all the others in the world.
as i examine the life of jesus, i am inclined to believe that this was what he intended: to change our conception of God, indeed to introduce us to a God that is so different from the traditional understanding as to be another God altogether. in referring to God as "father," jesus conveys an idea of God as a loving protector, not a god to be feared, not a god who will punish every violation of every petty rule. i fear that we've substituted just this type of god for the God of jesus as we've made christianity a religion of rules and rituals just as the religious of jesus' day had done. the God of jesus transcends the narrow bounds of judaism and christianity. Divine Love is a God who is beyond religion, the summation of the deepest meanings of compassion and lovingkindness.
in worshiping the God who is Divine Love we invite that love into our own hearts. we have the capacity for infinite forgiveness and kindness towards others. we see that love can inhabit of every human heart, and we need not fear others because of superficial differences. by opening our hearts to unselfish, compassionate love, we participate in the divine, and the divine becomes a part of us and we a part of the divine.
may we embrace this sort of love during this season of love, carrying it into all the rest of our days. may we abandon antipathy towards other religions and distrust of those who embrace other faiths or no faith at all. may we all be one in love. shalom.
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