living a life of love (easter edition)
When you read the word “love” what do you think?
I know that I personally used to have a very backwards idea of what love was. love was transactional-if you do something for someone, they love you in return, and vice versa. love was conditional, it could be taken away at any minute from parents, siblings, friends, God…you name it.
In A Course in Miracles love like I believed in is called “special love” because it has an opposite, which is “special hate”. If you can love your spouse all day and then hate them when they don’t take out the garbage, that is not real LOVE that we are talking about, it’s “special” love. It’s love just for me or just given by me, like a sticker for good behavior. Behave badly? Oh boy that sticker gets taken away.
I think I felt prompted to write about love right now, because Easter week is a special time for me to reflect on my relationship with Jesus Christ and God and the Holy Spirit (ghost) and myself. The greatest teachings of LOVE that I have access to are the life of the Savior Jesus Christ.
He taught pure love, he lived pure love, he was pure love.
Pure love is also called “Charity”, which is a love that is JUST love. It’s all there is. It is not conditional love or transactional love or any kind of special love you can think of. It is PURE LOVE. Love without bitterness, resentment, judgement, shame or blame.
How often have you felt that pure love, that charity? For many people, maybe only a few moments in there lives.
One of my favorite questions to ask clients is “When you truly felt the spirit speaking to you, did it every tell you you were wrong, or bad or should feel horrible?” And 100% of the time (so far) the answer is, “well…oh wow…I guess, NO, it never makes me feel that, I always feel just…LOVED.” The spirit communicates to us through expansive feelings of warmth, tenderness, love and acceptance. That is the pure love of Christ.
It doesn’t say “yes, I love you because you read your scriptures and said your prayers and took a casserole to your neighbor.” Love just is. When you do things from pure love, you open up your access to feel it more. It’s not that love is coming and going like the tide. LOVE IS. And you are THAT.
Think of love like a bluetooth connection. Some of us only have the connection to it set up within our hearts or minds or whatever energy center of your body. Does that mean it isn’t there all the time? NOPE. You just have disconnected or somehow along your mortal journey pushed the “forget this device” button in your settings.
The device with the bluetooth of CHARITY, the PURE LOVE OF CHRIST is EVERYWHERE. It can never turn off or be “out of range”. It never drops the connection, only YOU can do that. When you make choices that are inauthentic, which means anything less than a perfect child of God, anything less than pure love, then you drop the connection. You “get out of range” so to speak for a bit. Depending on your beliefs and thoughts and what action you just took, if you judge it really hardcore then you just straight up forget the device of God’s love.
I grew up being taught, by wonderful amazing people, who were taught by wonderful amazing people that God’s love is CONDITIONAL. I am not blaming any of them for this, it was exactly what they knew to be true and how it worked to keep people “‘in line for spiritual blessings”. If you do what God asks you, if you keep the commandments, THEN you get his Love. Even better, if you do what He asks and keep commandments, that love is shown in the form of BLESSINGS. Talk about “special love”.
I no longer believe there is a God out there sprinkling blessings on worthy people and withholding it from unworthy people. I don’t believe in a God that is capable of being ANGRY or disappointed in me. I don’t believe in a Christ who loves me more when I keep the commandments and less when I don’t.
I know that my leaders and loved ones taught this “fear” of losing God’s love because that’s pretty much the only play in the book that they knew worked. Listen, FEAR worked as a motivator to BE A RIGHTEOUS person for, oh, a few millennia. Fear got us to choose the right in case we get obliterated by God like a laser gun. It got us to go to church, wear the right clothes, not have sex, not do drugs etc etc etc
But guess what? look around you, IT AIN’T WORKING ANYMORE. Consciousness of all spiritual beings has shifted to a state of awareness, that makes fear as a motivator just not really work anymore. Most are witnessing that fear isn’t working as a motivator when it comes to the questions like “Does God love me? Who am I? Why am I here?” etc etc etc. Because before it was “God loves me if I do the right thing.” “I am a child of God who is loved, only when I choose the right, which means all the people I see not choosing the right are not loved” etc.
Through my years of personal deep spiritual and religious studies and meditation and prayer, I now intimately know a God who IS LOVE. I know a Christ who is THAT. I know Annie as a reflection of THAT LOVE as well. And the spirit is an instantaneous and flawless bluetooth connection to THAT LOVE.
Only I can get out of range of that signal. Only I can choose to be out of alignment of feeling that love. It never leaves me…EVER.
Can I become unaware of it and cut off from it’s feelings? YES and YES and YES.
Can ANYONE other than ME choose to reconnect me to that CHARITY, the PURE LOVE of GOD? NO and NO and NO.
This is a personal journey, where only you have the permission to adjust the settings on your spiritual smart phone and either hook up or disconnect from LOVE.
No one can overtake your agency. But also, I can’t fiddle with anyone else’s spiritual bluetooth settings either. Not my parents’, not my spouse’s, not my kids’, not even anyone EVER.
Several years ago my hot husband bought me a Carl Bloch painting for our living room, and it is one of my favorite stories. But it has a deeper meaning for me. Long story short, in this painting, TWO truths are shown.
Carl Bloch, Pool of Bethesda (1834-1890)
1.) the man had waited years, years years (like 14-17 years) to be the first one into the pool to be “healed” by the magical waters. but no one would help him because of fear. but Jesus just asked him if he had faith to be healed, and he was instantly healed. no water, no magical day to enter the water, no nothing. JUST willingness to believe he could be healed. just FAITH.
2.) Willingness to look at Faith in God is all you need for the connection. In this painting only TWO people are actually looking at Jesus Christ. One is the lame man who was healed instantly, and the other is a small child in the upper right hand corner. The rest of the people? Not looking at all or even looking away. For me the healing that LOVE brings is as simple as that, I just have to be willing to look to the truth of the Christ. That’s all it takes. I am healed. I am loved. I am that I am.
How many YEARS have you waited and suffered to enter the “magical pool” of waters and be healed? Some call this pool the “I am finally perfect pool” or “I no longer hate myself pool” or whatever you want to call it. This magical equation that ONCE you are in it, you are loved and whole and worthy. But what if…you are? already? Parts of Annie think she will be drowned for speaking these truths out loud. But here I am, still sharing them, because they are the GOOD NEWS. You are loved. You are love. God is love. All there is is love.
I know some of this might sound extremely radical and new for you, that’s oK! I’ve been there. And some of you might be nodding and giving me an “amen sista!” with your hands up in the air.
This Easter season, may I give you the comfort of Love. That you are LOVED RIGHT NOW. That you are PERFECT, WHOLE and COMPLETE. That God’s love is all there is, and you are that. This is such a profound thing to read and feel. Can you feel it?
A better question is, “could you be willing to feel the truth that you are ALwAYS LOVED?”
Who would you be BEING right now if you knew and were connected to that truth, that you are loved? Unconditionally?
What stories of yourself would you be willing to let go of if YOU ARE LOVED?”
And if you are loved and perfect, what people would you need to forgive and see them as a perfect child of God?
I can’t tell you what learning what charity means, and practicing feeling that pure love has given to my life. There are no words. It truly is a pearl of Great price. I remember when I was little reading a scripture that said “they would desire to sin no more” and I thought, “Sheesh! how crazy would that be?”. And i’m telling you right now, when you can feel the love of God for even half of a millionth of a second, you truly lose all desire to harm yourself or another…ever. One drop of that pure love is more powerful than centuries and centuries of fear.
THIS IS THE GOOD NEWS. And it’s something you want to share with everyone. But you can’t share anything that you DO NOT HAVE already for yourself. So my prayer for you, dear lovely reader, is to ask God if you are loved, ask if you are forgiven, ask for a sign that you are loved. ASK ASK ASK, and then trust that you will receive the answer in a perfect way.
Easter time is a perfect time to really slow down and reflect on this subject. Read about charity, study it, learn of it, and look to Christ’s example of how to BE LOVE in a human body. You can’t go wrong.
I love you. You are loved. A life lived in love is so amazing, and it is here for you RIGHT NOW.
Happy Easter