There seems to be a natural human tendency to think that we have to do stuff to get stuff. I want money - so I work to get money, I want a girlfriend - so I shower and shave and put on my best clothes. I want to go 160mph - so I by a Yamaha 1000 that can achieve such speeds.
We are very, very wary of anything that comes along with the tag FREE written on it. We smile when we hear of people who actually "send their money NOW!
When it comes to Religion it's the same thing. Every world Religion has at it's root the idea that your position before the God/ Energy/Consciousness/whatever that is in question is determined by what YOU do. Nothing is free, therefore if one wants what the particular Religion offers, one must do something to get it: pray, go to church, meditate, do yoga, kill ego, flagellate themselves, become a suicide bomber, do unto others, obey ones teachers. "Do this and you'll get that" in other words.
Love is different than all these things. A person who truly loves someone doesn't love them in order to get anything. A parent can love it's child simply because it loves it. It expects nor demands anything in return. And even when the child behaves abominantly - the parent - even though angry, even though they may not particularily like the child at that moment - still loves it. It seems that love, true love that is, comes in an envelope marked FREE GIFT.
And it for that reason perhaps, love being something freely given, that love is prized over all other things. And if one has ever loved or been loved then they might agree that there is no better experience to be had than experiencing what it is to love/be loved.
If it is true that "God so loved the world he gave his only son for it" then it is reasonable to suppose that that special characteristic of love, freely given, is present. If God loves us then it cannot be dependant on us being good or acknowledging him or liking him or loving him back.
Love always wants love to be reciprocated, for there is nothing so painful as unrequited love. True love cannot, however, use threat or pressure or trickery to achieve this. It can only be satisfied if the beloved makes the free choice to love back. If our experience of love is similar in kind to God's love, if he desires to have that love reciprocated, then he must woo the object of his love. I say 'woo' and I think this is a limit that not even God can transgress. As in life, it is not fair to blurt out to the object of your love "I love you so madly I could die if you do not return my love" This puts unfair pressure on the object. Any possible choice is immediately distorted by the necessity to take the others feelings into account. How could one make a completely free choice under those circumstances. What person could freely say No! were it God to express his feelings so directly.
It should be obvious that we, under our own steam, cannot find God. God must be the one to reveal himself to us. And he can do so only by wooing us. My advice? Keep your hearts eyes out for God. He is wooing you. Maybe even at this very moment.
This message has been edited by iano, 01-Dec-2005 01:22 PM
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