Three thousand years ago (give or take), the wise Israelite King Solomon purportedly said this:
When all has been heard, this is the end of the matter: fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.
A thousand years later, Jesus of Nazareth purportedly gave this answer to the question, What commandment is the greatest?
The first is… you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart… soul… mind, and… strength. The second is this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.
Similarly, if not finally, Jesus made a similar statement to his followers:
By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.
I’ve talked about love on this blog, but not completely. I have not been able to express what I’ve thought and felt about it, until now. Still, it isn’t me expressing it, but someone else stating exactly how it is congealed in my mind and heart.
On his blog, Experimental Theology, Dr. Richard Beck has posted on what love means. I recommend this post, and his blog in general. Love is almost universally misunderstood, in Dr. Beck’s opinion, and my opinion (not that I understand love perfectly, not even close). Even so–and I have stated this before–it is my opinion that the existence love is the single evidence there is for a personal, benevolent God. Thus, it is therefore logical that if God exists and if Jesus is in anyway close to what was written about him, love is at the bright center of what it is all about.
What I have gathered together in all of my mining is this: love is the nugget, vein, ore, and gem I have been looking for. It’s what I’ve been missing. What is frustrating is that I had missed it up until now. Like a gold-fever infected prospector, I ignored and set aside what looked dull and useless at first glance, chasing after the yellow-shiny stuff–which turned out to be pyrite. Turning back to that waste pile, and reprocessing it a little, turned up the gold I was looking for all along.
Love is now what colors my perception of everything. I have “gold” fever. If it isn’t concerning, sprinkled with, or infused by love, I’m no longer interested. Like Dr. Beck said, how we treat people matters–it matters in my business, my work, my family, my friendships, and most certainly my religion. I could further elaborate and detail all my thoughts on the matter, but that might not end any time soon, and I have a job to do.
I will close with this: I have come to the end of the matter.
With love,
Justin
