The Power of LOVE

You ever have one of those days when you have so much on your mind that it is hard to focus. I think I am there which will make writing this blog post interesting. I went to see the movie "The Butler" last night and it made me sad to think that blacks were treated so bad in such a modern society. For the life of me I can't understand in a Christian culture that there existed such a moral divide that would allow people to be abused to the point that it was socially acceptable. This is certainly not the world Christ intended for it to be yet so much was done in the name of Christ.

On another controversial topic, I have started reading the book "They Fired the First Shot 2012". This may be one of the most polarizing books I have read in years. It is a love or hate read. The book itself is good, yet some people are using this book to incite uprisings and create more cultural division which could ultimately lead to hate. The book was not written in an effort to incite bitterness and anger in the name of Christ but there are groups of religious bullies that tend to manipulate people in their direction. Personally I find the book as interesting as The DaVinci Code however I leave it as that, just a good book to read.

If the first two paragraphs are not enough to confuse the brain I also spent time this week, which I try to do every week, with people battling cancer. Even though I have always tried to pay special attention to the care givers of cancer fighters this week I was exposed to it a little more up close and personal. I spoke to a lady whose husband was suffering from stage 4 cancer. Naturally she was concerned for her husbands comfort and well being. When I ask her how she was doing she literally broke down. She felt guilty for having human emotions of anger, loneliness, depression, etc. She was as emotionally worn out as anyone I have seen in years. The focus tends to always be on the cancer fighter yet the behind the scenes support system is dying inside which is oblivious to most people. This lady was scared about what her husband's death was going to look like, what life without him would be, how she would emotionally survive, how she could find trust in God again, and the list goes on. My heart was torn apart listening to her real life feelings. This was not an isolated incident either, it is safe to say most caregivers go through the agonizing emotions by themselves. To scared to talk because others would see them as selfish when the focus should be on the person with cancer. Their faith is challenged beyond measure because society tends to lose sight of all parties involved.

When I lay down at night and reflect on all the problems and opportunities we face on a daily basis it makes me wonder where to place my priorities. I think we all come with a moral code that God placed in us at birth yet somewhere in the development phase we either lose it or confuse it. We become molded or manipulated into what the world around us wants us to be. We lose the truth of love that God certainly desired us to keep. If we lived in the totality of love which would promote peace and acceptance much of what I mentioned would not exist.

Love is a powerful motivator and a formidable weapon that seldom gets used to solve problems. "I have a Dream" are the words of Dr King, well I have a dream too and that dream is that we can all live together as one. That oneness comes with accepting our differences. Our search for our spiritual God may take different paths yet arrive at the same place. It is our responsibility to live and love not seek to influence or bully people to a belief system that was man made not God made.

The power of love was evident in the 60's and 70's yet it was so misunderstood that it took years before people realized what was even taking place. Jesus Christ was a superstar among the young yet popular culture struggled to allow the youth to find their love for Christ in their own way. Culturally Christ was alive but he was also killed over and over again because we could not accept how the love was being developed. I love the biblical parable about the woman at the well, or the woman who committed adultery, or Martha and Mary in the story of Lazarus, and the list goes on and on about how Jesus crossed cultural divides to unite people. Heck remember the good Samaritan I think that too shows the power of love in a time when love was not popular. Why can't we allow people to find Christ in their own way? I think the answer is because there is a certain amount of power and money that goes with getting people onboard the movements of particular groups or churches. They can't afford to allow people find God in their own ways.

Why is it so hard for us to simply love one another? Life can still be fun, we can still live on the edge, there will still be human sins, BUT the power of love and the empowering of peaceful freedom can move people to forgive and accept. Love, peace, freedom, acceptance, and forgiveness should be words we live by on a daily basis. There is no manipulation in those words, simply put there is unity.

When you hear politics preached in churches instead of the love of Christ, or groups being united to fight in the name of Christ this is not the movements inspired by the Gospels. If you ask the question to yourself "What would Jesus do" and you wanted the honest truthful answer just go back and read the Gospels. The truth is love and the promotion of it. Any church that promotes hate and division or incites any form of racial divide, bullying, or manipulation is not doing so in the likeness and image of Christ. They may be using Christ as their spiritual weapon, which by the way the Bible also warns us against, but that is not the truth as was originally spoken.

I believe in love, I believe in you. I believe with all my heart that each one of us was created to be the greatest miracle in the world. I believe we were created to do great things in small ways. I believe we were born take the ordinary to extra-ordinary. I believe we born to achieve amazing things in peaceful ways. I believe we were born with seeds of greatness endowed to us by a loving God. I believe in the power of dreams, the inspiration of hope, the incredible strength of love. The greatest force we can ever have in this world in which we live is to love our neighbors. To cross the divides society has created in peaceful ways. To love and accept all people regardless of their gender, race, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, age, or economic status. Let's simply put love to the test and see how powerful it truly can be.

peace to you
Dale