Love, says the Angelic Doctor compactly, consists in willing the good of another. God is this, in perfection, in himself (1 Jn. 1:18). We see the truth of revelation in the Trinity where Father, Son and Spirit live in an eternal dynamic of infinite love. But what are we to this?
Nothing in comparison, though we're commanded to love God with all our heart, soul and mind. Where does this take us? To nothingness again, which paradoxically becomes something, namely our true selves. We see the thing casually; the person who forgets themselves in conversation is more entertaining than a faked-up fraud.
I found this helpful, by Peter Kreeft:
Nothing is ours by nature. Our very existence is sheer gift. Think for a moment about the fact that you were created, made out of nothing. If a sculptor gives a block of marble the gift of a fine shape, the shape is a gift, but the marble's existence is not. That is the marble's own. But nothing is our own because we were made out of nothing. Our very existence is a gift from God to no one, for we were not there before he created us. There is no receiver of the gift distinct from the gift itself. We are God's gifts. So the saints are right. If I am nothing, nothing that is mine is anything. Nothing is mine by nature. But one thing is mine by my free choice: the self I giveaway in love. That is the thing even God cannot do for me. It is my choice. Everything I say is mine, is not. But everything I say is yours is mine. When asked which of his many library books he thought he would have in heaven, C.S. Lewis replied, "Only the ones I gave away on earth and never got back." The same is true of our very self. It is like a ball in a game of catch: throw it and it will come back to you; hold onto it and that ends the game.
And Farrer as always is beautiful:
Even today, when we pray, the hand of God does somewhat put aside that accursed looking-glass, which each of us holds before him, and which shows each of us our own face. Only the day of judgment will strike the glass for ever from our hands, and leave us nowhere reflected but in the pupils of the eyes of God. And then we shall be cured of our self love, and shall love, without even the power of turning from it, the face that is lovely in itself, the face of God; and passing from the great Begetter to what is begotten by him, we shall see his likeness in his creatures, in angels and in blessed saints; returning at long last the love that has been lavished on us, and reflecting back the light with which we have been illuminated. To that blessed consummation, therefore may he lead all those for whom we pray, he who is love himself, who came to us at Bethlehem, and took us by the hand.
Love not hate,
LSP
God is love. 💕 That's not in dispute, but is love all you need?
ReplyDeleteGood question, LL. The Beatles seem to be saying that Love is God. That dangerous error aside, love enlists allies.
DeleteFor example, our all important love of freedom might call on the help of an Armalite .50. ❤
Or to put it another way, faith without works is dead. St. James was pretty clear on that.
Hmmmmmmmm - well that's a whole bunch to think about today as I go about my duties in my state of life.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I mentioned you to our pastor yesterday and he completely agreed with all your book selections. I've just started Sheed's Theology over again and ordered Theology and Sanity.
God bless and have a wonderful day.
I'm in the same boat, Adrienne! My mind's all "whirred up" on the nature of love. Of course it'd be easier if Aquinas didn't put so much meaning in so few words...
DeleteGlad the book suggestions work.
God bless.
I wonder if we added up all the love that is in our hearts versus all the hate, what the percentages would be. Course then you got that apathy thing. Hmmm.
ReplyDeleteI'd say that's a question worth asking, Kid.
DeleteI like the movie "Always". The main character, Pete (Richard Dreyfuss) is killed when his fire bomber explodes in the air while fighting a forest fire. Pete finds himself wandering the burned forest where he meet an angel, Hap. IIRC there is a line in there to the effect that the greatest pain when we leave is the un-given love we take with us.
ReplyDeleteThe hard part is that giving love leaves us vulnerable. We fear that, even more so if we carry that kind of pain.
Maybe the face diapers served at purpose, but they are being used as a massive form of divide and conquer. The more you isolate people, the more fearful they become, the more vulnerable they feel.
It's a strange thing, RHT. The more we let go of ourselves the more real we become, and this is terrifying, like jumping off of a cliff into the unknown.
ReplyDeleteBut we see the proof of the thing all the time. For example, last Tuesday no one was trying to prove some kind of weird gun/ammo etc point (not a given in the shooting world...) or push themselves forward, we just had fun and got a bit lost in the shooting. At least I did, and what a lot of fun! Forget yourself, be yourself, sort of thing.
As for the muzzles, I think people are starting to have enough of the lie. There was a Walmart rebellion the other day here with maybe a third of the people taking the stupid things off.
I joined them. Obvs.