I do not believe it possible to leave Sunday School or Vacation Bible School without knowing John 3:16. Every such graduate knows, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have ever lasting life." If the whole of the bible were reduced to this one verse it would reveal to us the most sacred, most potent aspect of Love: sacrifice. God poured out its Son as a sacrifice and God's Son in turn poured out His life as a sacrifice, both on account of humanity. Such is the true nature of Love, not love as humanity identifies or defines love, but divine Love, the kind that sustains and nurtures and creates life. What we know of love is but a pale reflection of divine Love. We are not accustomed to sacrifice for it calls for us to release too much of ourselves. The life of Jesus shows us just how to tread the path of the righteousness through service and sacrifice. Most of us would call such a life impossible to lead, what with all the demands people would make on our time and energy, there would be little left for us.
But sacrifice is meant to take you away from your Self and lead you on the journey that will introduce you to your Soul, the spark of the divine within us, hidden by our lower inclinations. Each time we commit to a deed which takes no thought of ourselves but expresses energy for the welfare and thought of another we invoke Soul energy. It is akin to striking two stones together to make sparks. Each time we commit to selfless activity we strike the stones together and create sparks. Those sparks will eventually create a flame, the divine flame within us. And we become a Light unto to others, often times a Light in a dark place around which others gather.
It is never easy to sacrifice since we have such intense sensations surrounding our own needs and desires. Often times when we do sacrifice it comes only at moments of great peril or catastrophe. Jesus said, "greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for another." Too often when we invoke love it has to do with our own desires, our own needs. This is truly not Love but our own desire masquerading as Love. Love is a communal or group entity, it springs to life in the presence of or on behalf of many, not heart to heart as we would say. "The Love of God is shed abroad in our hearts." It is through the love expressed by the heart center that we connect to each other on Soul levels, that we speak to and recognize each other on deeper levels expressed through intuition.
Love is the most powerful form of energy in the Universe, transformative, nurturing and selfless. It creates, it binds, it expresses itself with consciousness, self-consciousness. To be touched by it is to be reduced to nothing, for in its presence all else is as nothing.
But sacrifice is meant to take you away from your Self and lead you on the journey that will introduce you to your Soul, the spark of the divine within us, hidden by our lower inclinations. Each time we commit to a deed which takes no thought of ourselves but expresses energy for the welfare and thought of another we invoke Soul energy. It is akin to striking two stones together to make sparks. Each time we commit to selfless activity we strike the stones together and create sparks. Those sparks will eventually create a flame, the divine flame within us. And we become a Light unto to others, often times a Light in a dark place around which others gather.
It is never easy to sacrifice since we have such intense sensations surrounding our own needs and desires. Often times when we do sacrifice it comes only at moments of great peril or catastrophe. Jesus said, "greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for another." Too often when we invoke love it has to do with our own desires, our own needs. This is truly not Love but our own desire masquerading as Love. Love is a communal or group entity, it springs to life in the presence of or on behalf of many, not heart to heart as we would say. "The Love of God is shed abroad in our hearts." It is through the love expressed by the heart center that we connect to each other on Soul levels, that we speak to and recognize each other on deeper levels expressed through intuition.
Love is the most powerful form of energy in the Universe, transformative, nurturing and selfless. It creates, it binds, it expresses itself with consciousness, self-consciousness. To be touched by it is to be reduced to nothing, for in its presence all else is as nothing.
LOVE the last paragraph the most!
ReplyDeleteI know, right, my friend!!
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