Practical Love

I think it is hard to understand the concept of Love. We are told that God is Love and to love and that we are loved, but what is it? What does Love mean? I have been pondering this question, because it is so hard to fathom the depth of the meaning. And, of course, there are many contexts and meanings. It is a noun and a verb too. In the Christian Bible, in 1 Corinthians 13:4–8a , we read that "Love is patient, love is kind..." While this is beautiful and often said at weddings, it is less than tangible for us. I thought about this and how Jesus of Nazareth might have answered this question. He would have used analogy or parable to do it. "The kingdom of heaven is like..." So what is Love like? I like "water" to answer that question. So what if God was water? Love was water. I am not suggesting that he/she/it is water. This is analogy.  About water Every day we wake up and take a shower or go to the river to clean ourselves with water. This is comf...

Life is a matter of perspective. This is illustrated so beautifully in the TV show Downton Abbey, on PBS. For the two of you that have not seen this program (Mitt Romney, because it is on PBS and another guy), it is about aristocrats and their servants http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downton_Abbey and you get to see both sides with their struggles and triumphs. Of course, they are very different. Another great cliché is that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. Which simply means that we all have our own perspective and what it means to us is quite different. Most of what we hate about others comes from two places: 1) They are too different from us and 2) They are too similar to us. Think of the last time someone "wronged" you. It is either that they acted in a way that was different than you or what you would want from them. Or, they acted exactly like you and you hate that about yourself. My favorite act to talk about, because it is so universal...

This is the title of one of my favorite books by Dr. Wayne Dyer and it was the theme of the homily at Easter mass. I always thought that this was a cool, new age, idea. But it turns out that Jesus taught that 2000 years ago. Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?" John 11:40 Jesus said to him, "Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed." ― John 20:29 “Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen. “And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” ― Matthew 21:21 “Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you. ― Mark 11:24 This is basically the idea of the book, "The Secret" which is a recent,...

I want to continue to talk about how God is Love . It is such a simple phrase. It makes a great bumper sticker. Seriously, language is so important probably because it can often be misinterpreted. There are 8 major translations of the original Bible over the years which have been translated into over two thousand language variations. There are hundreds of revisions to those bibles as well. The Catholic Church, this past year, changed much of the words used in the Mass on Sunday. I found a list that someone made of the names of God. They came up with 524. It seems that we are continually trying to get the words right. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1 "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us." John 1:14 These are two interesting and simple quotes from the gospel of John. It seems that the Word is important. We also find in the gospel of John, "God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in Go...

You can explore the universe looking for somebody who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and you will not find that person anywhere. Buddha You can try to practice love and loving your neighbor and those who wrong you, but if you cannot love yourself, you are going to struggle. Love is like a seed. It is planted inside of you and you need to water and feed it. The environment is very important. But how do we improve the environment? How do we virtually water this symbolic seed? What if you look in the mirror and fear that you are a fat, aging, unloveable person? What if that mirror shows you all your flaws? What if you are afraid that everyone else can see them too. What if you constantly remind yourself that you have not lived to your potential; you haven't contributed to the world; and your dreams have passed without a chance? What then? What if you believe that you have bad thoughts, bad ideas and must be a bad person? What if you look ...