Once upon a time, I heard a Christian preacher make the following argument: 1) Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God (1 John 5:1, NIV), 2) God is love (1 John 4:8, NIV), 3) Love is patient, kind, and numerous other desirable qualities (1 Corinthians 13), 4) Therefore, it is consistent for a Christian to affirm or confess that they possess the desirable qualities of 1 Corinthians 13, since they are born of the source of those qualities.
Steps to Knowledge expands upon statement 1). We were told back in Step 24, “I am worthy of God’s love,” that at the very core of ourselves, we are God’s love:
“You are indeed worthy of God’s love. In fact, you really are God’s love. Without pretense of any kind, at the very core of yourself, this is your True Self. It is not the Self you yet experience, and until you do experience it, do not pretend that this is your experience. But hold in true awareness that this is your Self. You are a person, but you are greater than a person. How can you be unworthy of God’s love if that is what you are?”
It’s not just people who believe certain things that are born of God; people are born of God. It takes some effort to reclaim one’s birthright.
Judgment departs, love remains
Step 61, “Love gives of itself through me,” follows from Step 60, “I will not judge the world today,” in my opinion. The point is not to make an explicit effort to be loving, but to open to love’s expressing itself. The Step didn’t say this, but I got the idea that love could express itself more freely in the absence of judgment.
As I pondered this Step, I saw a picture in my mind’s eye. In this picture, the pronouns in the Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear were replaced with the word “Love,” and the word “fear” was replaced with the word “judgment.” It made the last three lines like this.
Love will permit judgment to pass over love and through love
And when judgment has gone past, love will turn the inner eye to see judgment’s path
Where the judgment has gone there will be nothing…Only love will remain.
Judgment departs, love remains. Try it on and see how it feels.
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