“Thousands of years ago, the first man discovered how to make fire. He was probably burned at the stake he had taught his brothers to light. He was considered an evildoer who had dealt with a demon mankind dreaded. But thereafter men had fire to keep them warm, to cook their food, to light their caves. He had left them a gift they had not conceived and he had lifted darkness off the earth. Centuries later, the first man invented the wheel. He was probably torn on the rack he had taught his brothers to build. He was considered a transgressor who ventured into forbidden territory. But thereafter, men could travel past any horizon. He had left them a gift they had not conceived and he had opened the roads of the world.
“That man, the unsubmissive and first, stands in the opening chapter of every legend mankind has recorded about its beginning. Prometheus was chained to a rock and torn by vultures—because he had stolen the fire of the gods.”
Hundreds of years ago, the world was flat and was the center point of the universe. The earth, as a creation of G-d, was the focal point of our very universe and was selfishly held by the religious authorities as a position of power, held as off-limits for those who believed in the truth, which needed only basic scientific research in order to be uncovered. Those brave individuals who dared to proclaim the truth were burned at the stake, as heretics, by the religious authorities of that time. What these condemned heretics held in their hearts was a treasure greater than any to have been discovered since the creation of man; a secret, created by a good and holy G-d, meant to be shared and enjoyed with His creation.
When human beings, born with a natural lust for power, control, and selfish ambition, are put in a position where other human beings begin to follow them, it is only a matter of time before that position of power overcomes the fundamental principles and foundational truths the first leaders were assigned to protect and share with the people. Power corrupts. And so does truth, when those responsible for sharing it to the world do not allow its elements to be enacted by those who they share it with.
When G-d created the world, it was not infused with mixes of theology, doctrine, or institutionalized religion. He created the world and its inhabitant(s) to have direct communication and fellowship with Him; a pure and simple connection between Creator and created; the ultimate act of agape love enacted with That which needed no fellowship or love, creating that which needed fellowship and Love in order to survive and continue its existence.
It would have been very easy for G-d to have created man to function as a robot; living only to worship his Creator, with no thoughts of ever turning his back on the Creator. However, this would not have been an act of love, but one of enslavement. G-d, omnipotent and omniscient; all-powerful and all-knowing, created man with the full knowledge he would rebel against his Creator. He created mankind as a pure act of love, so that some – not all – would have the ability to discover a personal relationship with his Creator, and live his/her known life in close fellowship with Him. This desire to again have fellowship takes man back to the very days of walking in the Garden of Eden. However, in this free and imperfect world, man must fight against the will of those who live in disobedience to the opportunity of having fellowship with their Creator.
When G-d’s gifts are placed in the hands of imperfect mankind, it is only a matter of time before human corruption comes into play, overcoming the original foundational truths its structure was created upon; mammon precedes the foundation of G-d. Greed and vain ambition overtake truth, while utilizing it as a moral beast of burden to carry themselves upon.
3,300 years ago, mankind was commanded by G-d and His chosen leaders to “Love the LORD your G-d with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. And love your neighbor as you love yourself.”
2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ echoed the same words when He was asked by the religious leaders of the time what they must do to enter the kingdom of Heaven:
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
He answered: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”
“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
Simple. Foundational. Truth.
These same truths have been twisted, transformed, and manipulated by weak human beings over the course of 2,000 years, allowing over 38,000 different denominations of Christianity, alone, to be formed. What was established by twelve apostles has bloomed into a much larger network of individuals who claim to follow the law of G-d, with countless individuals giving way to corruption and vain ambition under the guise of religion to command and rule over people.
This is not a time to throw stones. This is a call to return to our foundational roots of existence; a simple desire for relationship between G-d and man; a direct connection between Creator and created. A relationship built entirely out of selfless love with direction communion between the two beings; perfect unity between Infinite and finite.
Love, unadulterated and purely selfless, was the birthing element of the universe and all of life. This Love did not have religious institutions built around it. Why? Because, in its truest form, this Love – capable of creating something from nothing – was so pure that it did not need rules or regulations to protect its created; it was pure and real from its conception.
There are moments in history where human beings are capable of experiencing short snippets of this love, often seen in selfless moments of heroism, generosity, or seasonal goodwill. We do not commonly find moments like this to be capable of lasting a lifetime, as these moments are entrusted to imperfect human beings who do not possess the ability to make a moment of perfection last a lifetime. However, I would like to believe it is possible for an individual – or two – to experience a lifetime of agape love; living this human life with the experience of a close relationship to their Creator, and a seamless bond between each other.
I do believe it is the will of our Heavenly Father for all of man to experience His love on the fullest level they are capable of accepting. We often construe this to be defined as the level of which one believes they are entitled to through their merit of good human nature. However, I believe it is just the opposite; G-d places the most in the hands of those who have come to fully realize just how little it is they truly deserve. It is with the people who have come to understand they do not deserve a single molecule, as they understand they have – and will – not be capable of doing any good deed, act, or gesture to warrant their deserving of good acts. It is on these people that G-d pours out His highest and rarest blessings, because He has the trust and confidence in them that any blessing He pours on their life will only be received with a thankful heart and childlike Faith, offered back to Him with question of His blessing to receive them.
My conclusion to this very long – and mostly unread – blog is that the truest form of relationship we can ever have with our Creator is that of Love, where we allow nothing to get between the way of our relationship with our Creator, while sharing that same selfless love with those around us; giving everything we have to them without any expectation of reciprocated love.
“We only accept the love we feel we deserve”
I believe it is when we realize we do not deserve a single ounce of love, as we realize we have done nothing to warrant our relationship with our Creator – let alone our very existence, while also realizing we, as broken human beings, do not deserve the love of any other human beings, in that we feel all others are somehow more perfect than our undeserving selves, that the Creator blesses us with true examples of His love. It is with careful trepidation that we must embrace this rare happening; constantly making sure it is, in fact, a gift from the Father. However, we are also called to enjoy the blessings He has created for us to enjoy. No conclusions – just Faith.
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