I got it. I finally outright got it! The meaning of life…our reason for being.
Love.
D’ya get that? LOVE. Here’s how it shakes down:
1. God is love.
2. God loves us.
3. God wants us to love him.
4. God wants us to love each other.
(Not too offensive yet, huh? That whole “God” thing… no one’s hitting the red X on the off chance I go religious-fruit-loop on ya?)
Well, as I see it (and this is my blog, so I can post it any-ole-way-I-see-it) we are put on this earth to LEARN TO LOVE EACH OTHER THE WAY THAT GOD LOVES US.
Come again?
Yeah, see point #2 above. I believe this is what it means to be “made in his image.” Doesn’t mean we have the same nose, or that our skin matches God’s (really? Skin???) It simply means we have a HEART capable of LOVING as God loves.
Wow…
Allow me to illustrate…
Who is the worst person in the world I can think of? I’m thinking…and in my rude and judgmental way, I have someone in mind. You do too, I’m sure. Now…who made that person?
Satan, of course!
Bzzzzzzzz!! Satan doesn't create; he destroys. Try again.
Uh, God??
Right. Don’t be afraid…Shout out the answers when you know them!
Who made you? (Little easier to answer, huh?)
Now, for my spiritually-challenged friends, you were very well created by a swirling mass of electrons and energy and formed from a million-years’ evolution of organisms as a result of your mom and dad having a “thing” for each other…I’m just sayin’…still could’ve been orchestrated by God. But I digress…
Back to the bad-ass no one likes. We have established that God made this person, just as he made you. Furthermore, if you are Christian (and you do not HAVE to be for me to appreciate you) but if you are, then you believe God died for you, right?
And he died for Mr./Ms. Bad-Ass too, right?
Oh, hold on, Lori. That’s pushing it a little far. I haven’t, like, killed anybody…of COURSE God loves me. But Mr. Bad Ass, well, he’s…bad!
Ahem! Yeah…kinda my point. God loves Mr./Ms. Bad Ass too…enough to die for them. And us.
And we hate each other…why?
See, even when we suck at our mission, God still loves us. He still wants us to love him. And he wants us to love each other. Period. He didn’t have a checklist at the cross, “Oh, I’m dying for this girl, but not this one. Have you seen how she dresses?!” No checklist. And I’m glad, ‘cause Lord knows my name wouldn’t have been on it. Yet he knows my name. He knows Mr. Bad Ass’s name. And he loves us both the same.
So I need to love Mr. Bad Ass. ‘Cause God thinks he’s worth loving. Who am I to not oblige? After all, I already know God gave me the ability to do this...the rest is up to me.
If we succeed at nothing else in this life but learning to love every soul on earth with the same gusto that we want to be loved, then – and only then – will we have truly lived.
(Now pass the plate.)
