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Orson wrote:
The power I see growing out of love is that which will elevate all others
I like this idea…a lot actually.
I want the world to be a better place for my children…that kind of thing.
Orson wrote:
As we learn to exercise our “own” power in love we are really opening a door of opportunity, an example, to let others into the chambers of God – to help them experience the power of God.
This is beautiful. Thanks!
Another idea I really love in relation to “Love” being the actual power of God – is the creation process. If God “commands” the elements and they take shape according to his will, it makes sense that the response can be seen as love based. The harmony of nature and the universe is interwoven with the threads of love, it is like the glue that holds everything together. There is a natural tendency to resist, and here is where we get into a multi-volume analysis of the relationship of love with fear and self-preservation. We all fear being hurt and it hinders our relationships, the resulting imperfection grows the “chaos” of the world today, we want to feel something so we fall to selfish pleasures. This tension of mortality is vital to our ability to learn and appreciate the true nature of love/connectedness/synergy/power/exaltation. The “at-one-ment” is another element, it all comes together to form a common purpose for me. “if you love me, keep my commandments” Seems like God commands, and if there is love, things obey his commands not out of control, but out of love.
I don’t think I love my church leaders enough. Maybe I am self-correcting to the many years I didn’t love myself enough.
Your thoughts have me thinking of many things, Orson.
I have come back and read this thread multiple times. Thanks. I really like these thoughts. Yes so many things point back to love. “If you love me keep my commandments.” On the two great commandments hang all the law, so the law is to love. How do we show love for God? “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these…” Matthew 5:43-48 says love even your enemies to become children of the Father, and becoming perfect is based on the ability to love perfectly. Righteousness is love, Love is righteousness. Yes I believe self-love is absolutely essential, it comes first. We cannot love anyone or anything if we don’t first accept love. If I try to define my own ideas about self-love it gets a little complicated but where many people say “I felt the love of God for me” I take that as them giving themselves permission to believe they are worthy to love. It opens the door of self-love. Love is meaningless if it is undefined, self-love is vital to personal definition. The worst offenders in society have complex backgrounds, but I can’t help believing some absence of love propels them to evil ways. Addiction has been shown to link with a lack of personal connection. It all comes down to the basic theme for me.
Heber’s comment about loving leaders enough has me thinking, what fruit would that bear? I don’t think loving someone means we will always agree or that we should give in to their wishes to demonstrate love. It simply means we want the best, we mean no harm, and we will choose the right as we see it. Yes I suppose the absence of adversarial thoughts if we are loving even our enemies. I try to imagine being at war with a brother, I still love him but must oppose his objective. I often search for and wonder where the line is crossed from opposing a purpose to feeling enmity toward the person. During the campaign of last year I heard a lot of comments that a candidate is evil at their core, I think every one of us has evil and good within. Our choice is which do we nurture. I like to think of others – say a dangerously aggressive driver in traffic – as if they are someone I know and must be having a bad day. I wonder how I can cultivate a more constant attitude of love, patience, kindness, forgiveness, etc. but like I said I don’t see any need to yield principles. Love is strong.
Heber13 wrote:
“if you love me, keep my commandments”Seems like God commands, and if there is love, things obey his commands not out of control, but out of love.
Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!! This is the point. This is what it all comes down to.
I had a very interesting experience watching Interstellar. I think anyone who chews for a while on the idea that love may be an essential force in the universe could have a “wow” moment during that movie.
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