Love

People respond to Love, and

React to everything else.

All people are defended, on guard, alert,

Except when Love breaks through.

Everyone yearns, longs, waits and hopes

For a drink of Love.

There is no one who, having drunk, does not forget

And thirst again.

Love always loves

Love is in the air, and yet

We habitually hold our breath

Until Love makes us gasp.

Every prayer, spoken or unspoken,

Leans toward Love, invites Love.

Love is, Love does, Love has, Love will.

My bible

My childhood and early adulthood were drenched in the Bible, so much so that I have spent most of the years following unlearning skewed Bible teaching so that I could live more freely and more lovingly.  Honesty and integrity became and remain far more important to me than righteousness.  Moment by moment salvation from fear and distrust became and remain far more important to me than where I go after I die.  Loving others and myself is far more important to me than morality.

I have reached a point in my life where I can honestly say I don’t care what the Bible says.  I really don’t.  

Here are my bullet points:

·               God is Love; Love is God

·               The raw materials for Love come packaged in every human

·               No one is left out or exempt from Love, no one.

·               I don’t have to get it right; I just have to say, “yes.”

·               If I don’t say “yes” in this lifetime it is my loss and my right

·               Atheism is fine and can be healthy; shutting one’s heart to Love, however, is quite painful.

People change...

When I was a child I believed:

1.         God dictated the Bible, word for word, and it was literal truth.

2.         There was one true church, and I was a card carrying member.  The rest were false.

3.         Black people were not like “us.”

4.         For the good of society, men should lead; women should follow men’s guidance.  Strong women could only lead other women or children.

5.         Sex was to be enjoyed only by married couples.  Singles should remain celibate their entire lives.

6.         Homosexuals were very strange and very sinful.  It should be noted that I was probably a teen-ager before I even knew what a homosexual was.

7.         Divorced people were weak, selfish and lacked sufficient fortitude to keep a promise.

Today I believe:

1.         Humans wrote the Bible, inspired by their understanding of God at the time.  Little of it is literal truth or accurate history; much of it is poetry, metaphor and mysticism.

2.         There is One True Church, and we are all members of it, every one of us.

3.         Our relegating any ethnic group of people as “other” is heartbreaking.

4.         Are you kidding me?

5.         Sex is a natural expression of the human need for connection and pleasure and should be enjoyed by responsible, respectful adults.

6.         I wholeheartedly support gay marriage.

7.         I fully understand divorce and society’s need for it.

I cite these examples for one purpose; to demonstrate that people can and do change.  I am living proof that people can evolve, grow, question, seek and find. Because of these changes of heart and mind, and many more like them, I understand there are beliefs and attitudes I hold today that are wrong, or at best, immature.  Thus, to argue vociferously for the absolute rightness of any position I now hold would be to risk having to backtrack later.  Some of you knew me back when and know of what I speak.

If I know this to be true of me, I assume it is also true of you.  I assume it is true of President Obama and of Mitt Romney.  People can learn and change; I know this for a fact.  Societies can evolve and progress.  Cultures can adapt and expand. 

The God I know today, though he may not have dictated the Bible, is a powerful force in the hearts and minds of people.  He does not need me to argue my position in the town square.  He needs me to trust what I know.