Shema…Thou Shalt Love
“Let us occupy ourselves entirely in knowing God. The more we know Her, the more we will desire to know Her. As love increases with knowledge, the more we know God, the more we will truly love Her. We will learn to love Her equally in times of distress or in times of great joy.”
―Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God
“The greatest commandment is, you shall Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength (Deuteronomy 6:5), and the second is like it, you shall Love your neighbor as yourself (Leviticus 19:34). On these two commandments, all of the law and the prophets depend.”
—Jesus of Nazareth, Mark 12:21ff and Matthew 22:36-40
The text from Deuteronomy above is the foundation for the Shemah, which is recited by practicing Jews every morning and evening:
“Hear (Shema), O Israel: Adonai is our God; Adonai is One! Blessed is God’s name; His glorious kingdom is forever and ever! And you shall love Adonai, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.”
At the time the Spirit exhorted me with the words about becoming the Lover of God, She directed my attention to these words of Jesus from the gospels. They provided me the grounding I needed to set my foot on the path of becoming that which would please Her and satisfy me. Only two simple ‘commands (a little tongue in cheek here).’ Both are commands to Love and what I heard Her saying is this:
“fall so deeply in love with me so that there is nothing left of you for the love of any other god (there are many cultural options), and because of your Love for me, fall in Love with who and what I, your Lover, Love.”
I am not alone in this. I have no ‘special’ relationship with Her. Because of Her desire for me, I Love Her. Every human being who has been born equally shares one created purpose. We all exist to be the Lovers of and for the abiding Spirit, Adonai. While there will be many assignments and vital detours along the way, our purpose for being never changes. We are Love.