I've had this intuition lately that fear is an illusion. Love is the only real thing in this world, even though love is intangible, even though we can't prove that love exists. If you tell me that you love a person and I say "prove it," there is no way for you to prove it. You can try to prove love by your actions, but I will counter that you are acting that way out of dependency or to to make yourself look or feel better. Only you know if you love a person, and you know it because you feel it.
Some people say that "God" is love. Or that "God" manifests love. Or that "God" is the greatest example of love in the universe. Since love and "God" are practically synonymous, isn't it interesting that you can't prove love, just as you can't prove "God"? And isn't it interesting that you can't think you love a person, you can only feel that you love a person...just as you can't try to think "God" into existence, you can only feel that "God" exists?
It is a great irony that we can think up atomic bombs and space travel, but we can not think up love. And by extension, we can't think God into existence. "God", whatever "God" is, can only be felt. If you are looking for "God," you will never find "God" through thinking. You will only find "God" through feeling.
Some people say that "God" is love. Or that "God" manifests love. Or that "God" is the greatest example of love in the universe. Since love and "God" are practically synonymous, isn't it interesting that you can't prove love, just as you can't prove "God"? And isn't it interesting that you can't think you love a person, you can only feel that you love a person...just as you can't try to think "God" into existence, you can only feel that "God" exists?
It is a great irony that we can think up atomic bombs and space travel, but we can not think up love. And by extension, we can't think God into existence. "God", whatever "God" is, can only be felt. If you are looking for "God," you will never find "God" through thinking. You will only find "God" through feeling.
Feelings are very important in all relationships. They're the force that draws people together or draws people to God, and the glue that keeps them there.
ReplyDeleteI often say, though, that love is a verb. This is because feelings are transient, but intention can last just as long as you have the fortitude to sustain it. It's nice when feeling and intention are working together, like they were the day Bill and I got married. I felt nothing but pure love for him that day, and I set the intention to continue loving him forever. I don't always feel loving like I did that day, but I do my best to continue being loving -- following my intention to do so.
Still, there were reasons that I did this with Bill and not some random stranger off the street. Bill and I are compatible in many ways, and we each nurture the strong intention to be a good partner to the other. Even when things are difficult between us, we both hang onto that intention. That allows our relationship and our love to keep growing.
I believe that setting loving intentions and backing them with actions is helpful in all relationships, but it's critical in parent-child relationships. Children do a lot of things to piss their parents off, and this is even deliberate sometimes. A parent may feel like reacting harshly to the child, but this is where the exercise of love comes in. What is the best thing for the child at this moment? That's the only thing that matters. And often, if not almost always, the loving thing to do is not what the parent feels like doing. I for one can attest to that!
As for God (as in, the God of my understanding), I have gone through difficult times when I didn't feel the presence of God at all. But when I look back, I clearly see that I was being supported and helped through my difficulties, and things worked out well for me in the end. It could be due to coincidence, but I chose to believe that there is a benevolent power in the universe that I am connected with. This helps me feel secure in the world and gives me a base for reaching out and being loving towards others.
Megan, wow thanks for the interesting comment. I agree that love is a conscious choice and that the "feeling of love" you have when falling in love is not real love. Real love requires an effort, it requires a person to love even in moments when they might not FEEL any love.
ReplyDeleteI guess what I was referring to here was to a group of analytical, logical, scientific people that I know. They are always trying to figure out if God exists by reason and probability (I do the same thing at times) but it never seems to get them anywhere. That thinking about God has never gotten me anywhere, either, nor has it gotten most people anywhere throughout history, so it seems.
I feel like thinking God exists is just an acknowledgement, but it does little for the person. It doesn't compel the person to be better, to dream bigger, or to love more. If you can FEEL something about "God," whatever God is (e.g. I feel interconnected with God and all people, I feel that I am significant to God even though I am just a speck in the universe, I feel amazement at the complexity of nature/God's intelligence) than that is what compels ACTION. That feeling about God is what compels a person to be better, to dream bigger and to love more.
Not sure if I am making sense...and I think I probably did not explain myself properly in this post. This is the frustration of being a writer: not being able to put to words what you mean. :)