"And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, "Which commandment is the first of all?" Jesus answered, "The first is, `Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second is this, `You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." And the scribe said to him, "You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that he is one, and there is no other but he; and to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And after that no one dared to ask him any question."
- Mark 12: 28-34
One of the things that I want to teach my children is that they are to love and to never hold back on love. If they say it, they should mean it and stick to it. Love is the desire for the other to experience the good and for the good that each one has to be shared between the two. “I give of myself to thee that your life should increase and be abundant”. Love is the desire to have fellowship and communion with the other. It finds its source in the Trinity – for God is a communion of persons bound together in mutual love with love being the very essence of who He is. The relationship that the individual has with God is unique and intently intimate. It is love that fires the soul and draws the individual deeper into the relationship that he was created for and it is the ultimate good. But we are not called to be alone in our relationship with God – we are called to love one and other. We are to share our secret love for God with others that they might have my joy in knowing God in that unique and particular way that I do and that I might have a share in gaining that knowledge of God that has been given to them in their own unique and particular way. The music of love is not a single instrument or even a collection of single instruments braying unceasingly upon a single solitary note. Rather love is a symphony with the sound of each individual instrument intertwining, building upon the others, and enriching everything. Love increases and overflows as it is shared and given and received so that the totality is greater than the sum of its parts.
ReplyDeleteAll things are called to be ordered in light of God’s love. We are patterned after Him and like Him we are beings in relationship with others. We are called to be His and to love him with all our strength. But this is not a solitary relationship that we are called to, for God gives us to one and other, and ever instructs us that if we refuse to be given to one and other in love, then we do not really love Him.
Joseph- As always, thank you so much for your excellent work. This was very inspiring for me and, as always, I very much appreciate your comments.
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