Sunday, September 21, 2014

"Loving God with all your Soul"



When Jesus is challenged to name what is most important in life, he says it is to love God by loving others as we ourselves are loved.  And he says, as Moses did before him, that this love is to be all-encompassing:  to love with heart, soul, mind and strength – the whole of our being.  As we explore how that touches ground in our lives, we contemplate what it means, not only to love as a soul, but in truth to BE a soul!  Today we engage the reality of our whole, true selves and how God is calling forth the very essence of us as a gift of love to the world.
We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience. 
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
The calling to love God with the whole of our being is the foundation of Biblical tradition and practice.  It is as central to Jesus' ministry as it has been to the faith of all his Israelite forbearers.  Jesus teaches this love in a variety of different contexts in the Gospels as "the greatest commandment" and as "the key to inheriting eternal life."  In Jesus' spiritual heritage, it is the morning prayer of the Israelites: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.  You shall love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength."(Deuteronomy 6:4-5)

It is a calling upon our lives today, just as it was upon the lives of believers in Jesus' time.  When he teaches on this truth, Jesus always connects it with loving others ... "love your neighbor as yourself." For him, the two are inextricably linked:  we love God best when we love others as we would be loved ourselves.

In this Pentecost season we will be exploring our calling to love God in all that we say and do - with all that we are - and to manifest this love in our relationships with others.

September 28 - Loving God with all your Mind
October 5 - Loving God with all your Strength
October 12 - Loving Yourself
October 19 - Loving Your Neighbors
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