Today's MOZEN: The Power of Love 7/20/2014

Words and photo by F LoBuono

I am not a religious scholar. Nor do I play one on television. And I am not a Christian, Jew. Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Atheist, Agnostic or any other label that people hang on you to qualify your beliefs. I am a spiritual human being. By this I mean that I have studied at least portions of all of the those religions/philosophies to reinforce and aid my efforts in being the best human being that I possibly can. And I always look inward to find the answers.

In my pursuit of this spiritual knowledge, I think that I may have discovered, at least for me, the key. And that is simplicity. Every religion seems to be steeped in ritual and dogma. There are rules and procedures that each one believes will bring you to enlightenment and then salvation. Without following these strict guidelines, you will not achieve the so-called Kingdom of Heaven. First, I must state here and now, that I don't believe in a traditional, Western style heaven with white, puffy clouds, angels playing harps, and lots of old men with white beards. However, I do believe that the essence of what we truly are is somehow continued after our mortal passing. There is just too much energy within us to just disappear. And this is not just in a spiritual sense, but a physical one, as well. In fact, one of the basic laws of physics states that, energy can neither created or destroyed. It only changes form. What shape or form that may take, I have no idea. And, quite frankly, I am in no hurry to find out.

So, how do we get there? The answer is simply. The path lies simply in following The Word. And what is THE WORD? Well, it is LOVE. And it is not new to us. In fact, it is a recurring theme in virtually all of the world's religions from the very origins of those religions. Perhaps, because I was raised as a Catholic, I am most familiar with how it is expressed through Christianity. First, to attain a fuller understanding, in my mind the one who delivers The Word is not what is most important. It is the concept behind The Word that is. Even Jesus, the Christ, said it himself: I am THE WORD made flesh. By this, I believe, he means that the vehicle is not as important as the destination. The trappings of divinity were cast upon him by others. If this was necessary for human beings to accept The Word, then so be it. If you choose to accept Jesus as divine, that's OK too, just as long as you don't lose the message within the ritual and dogma. It's kind of a "you can't see the forest through the trees" type of mentality. We can get so caught up in the "appearance" of spirituality that we forget the true meaning of it.

Second, despite all of the sermons and parables, Jesus (and others) broke it down to the most simple of messages when he said, "and the greatest of these is love". Yes, it is that simple. For all the miracles, all the hype, all the interpretation, all the ritual, all the dogma, it comes down to this: and the greatest of these is love. I will never understand why we feel the need to complicate things beyond this most simple and sublime message. Love. Love. Love. Love others. Love yourself. Fill your hearts with it. Fill your heads with it. Fill your souls with it. And forget the rest. Don't be afraid to love. It's the greatest power on earth (and in heaven). And it's all the religion you need to know. The sooner we accept that, without reservation, the better the world we be.