God is love

I must of been about 10 or 11 years old, and my family and I were living in De Soto, Missouri. It was on a warm, cloudless, summer day that my friends and I decided to ride our bikes over the railroad tracks and Joachim Creek to the high bluffs that run the length of De Soto. Our legs worked hard as we continued up to explore the rocky bluff that was hundreds of feet above the creek and railroad yards.

Spying this huge but smooth boulder, I wondered what was on the other side. I decided to inch my way around its expanse by laying on it and propelling myself across using my toes and fingers. I was about halfway across when it became too steep.

As I started sliding down the boulder, I thought, “this is it!” Suddenly, I felt a hand pressing into my back stopping my descent and a fall that would bring certain death. Then ever so slowly, this mysterious hand pushed me up the boulder until I again was able to gain control and inch myself back. I remember being scared and shaking when I was once again safe.

This experience stayed with me all my life, and only when older did I realized that it was my Guardian Angel, sent to me from God, who saved me. God loved me, but why did He save me? For what purpose?

One purpose for which I was saved was to learn how to love everyone like Christ loves me, like He loves all of us. Immersing ourselves in the act of loving everyone can bring joy to our lives but it seems an impossible endeavor for a Christian to accomplish these days. Love is a major tenant of Christianity, but we Christians seem to be losing our way.

One problem is how so much of our culture has been permeated by modern secularism, whose appeal it is difficult for me to understand, given it is a belief system that ignores all spiritual considerations in our lives and our communities. Christianity is all about love, so how do Christians navigate in a culture where we are bombarded 24/7 by a media captivated by extremism of the right and left in movements dedicated to polarization and conflict?

As material values encroach upon our lives and seep into our education system, we are losing the sense of the love that God has for each of us, His presence in our lives and His concern for our welfare.

Our real problem as individuals is our inability to be aware of, or to seek the ways He IS there caring about us in our everyday lives. We as adults need to communicate, translate this reality to our children lest they be lost to the surrounding un-Christian environment vying for their attention.

In 1776, the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence declares, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” The Declaration of Independence and Constitution is being hijacked by special interest groups wanting God taken out of our culture, lives, education and government. Are we going down the road of perdition — like many Communistic, Socialistic and Fascistic countries whose regimes systematically suppressed religion as incompatible with their ideologies?

The United States is entering a “danger zone” because with the decline of Christianity you find a decline of Human Rights, Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. We Christians have our work cut out for us, and it includes prayer, prayer and more prayer.

In 1 John we read that God is Love. We must remember this, that although our lives at times can be difficult, we should always rejoice! Jesus came to save us, and we look forward to His second coming.

In writing this, I’m reminded of Paul’s letter to the Philippians where Paul is joyfully urging the Philippians to rejoice. The Philippians’ lives were difficult due to living under the weight of conquerors — the Romans. Furthermore, Paul was writing them (about 55 A.D.) while he himself, was in prison. Paul is talking about a joy that is not superficial but a joy deeply rooted in Christ, which cannot be taken away when earthly things, beyond people’s control — try to take over their lives.

In the end, by keeping His commandments, having faith and truly loving and serving one another — we will have final victory in Jesus. St. Augustine in the fourth century put it this way, “By sending his only Son and the Spirit of Love in the fullness of time, God has revealed his innermost secret: God himself is an eternal exchange of love, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and he has destined us to share in that exchange.”

1 John 4:16 put it another way, “God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” This expresses in remarkable clarity the heart of the Christian faith; and my sisters and brothers, we are destined to share in its destiny of Love.

So, keep focused on the Love of God that He has for each of us and pray, through His grace, we can learn to love Him back and each other like He wants us to.

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David Farris is ordained as a Permanent Deacon in the Catholic Church, serving Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Poplar Bluff and St. Benedict Catholic Church in Doniphan. He is a US Navy veteran and resides in Poplar Bluff with his wife, Mary.