"Love God", part deux

[Pleroo]

Originally Posted by Pleroo

Now, there is one other statement (that I am aware of) that speaks of what God IS, foundationally. It's also found in 1 John: God IS Light.

So, following the theme of the previous thread, it seemed like a profitable thing to meditate on what it means to love Light/God? What are the properties of Light/God, and what are the properties of spiritual darkness by which one can recognize the absence of love for Light in themselves? How do you expect/desire to be transformed by the Light, personally? Etc.

In another thread, I just posted a quote but I initially intended to post it here because it really spoke to me and I believe it fits here. So...

Christy suggested a book to me by Jim Marion, a Christian and former Catholic monk. The book is Putting on the Mind of Christ.

At one point in the book, he's talking about how when the Light shines into the recesses of your heart, it exposes negative thought forms, negative beings, dark angels and the like. But he says and I quote, "none of these... are 'evil'. They are simply negative. The Archangel Lucifer's job, as assigned by God, is to be in charge of the negative pole of Creation. From Lucifer emanates the dark forces, first and foremost fear (the true opposite of love), and then countless other negative angels (energies) who carry the negative emotions... These energies are negative, but each of these emotions is essential for the evoluton of human consciousness... It is best to show compassion, not fear, for all the dark forces. They are just doing their jobs. Send them love and they will either be transformed into the light or, if they fear the light you send them, they will go away."


I really appreciated this idea of showing compassion and love to the negative/dark forces that the Light illuminates within us. (Personally, I tend to think of those dark forces not as separate beings but simply as the negative thoughts we harbor and the wounds that have been inflicted on us by our own or other's wrong actions. But I can acknowledge that others who see things more literally may have a different, and perhaps clearer, perception of the "spiritual realm" than I do. Regardless of whether it's symbolic or literal, the basic premise is applicable, I believe.)

The idea of not looking at those negative emotions/negative aspects of ourselves in a condemning way or with fear, but rather with compassion guards against the temptation to suppress the knowledge that those things do, in fact, exist. When we show Love to those negative things we are also showing Love to ourselves, and that is crucial, I think. At any rate, it's something I, personally, struggle with.

Further, the better we get at having that compassion for the negativity within us and allowing Love to transform those things, the better we get at having compassion for the negativity within others ... we'll be less judgmental, less inclined to feel the need to "fix" others, and more able to trust Love to transform them. (As a mom of teens, I find this a really, really important lesson that I need to embrace. )