Thoughts? Responses? Discuss. Comment. Or blog at your own pace - let me know when you do. I'm brewing mine.
2 comments:
Anonymous
said...
hmmm, still thinking. but it seems that "Love god with all heart, mind, soul and strength; AND love your neighbor as yourself"... have to be able to love god because he's god, love yourself because god made you and you're lovable, and love others because that's the same love that god has for all. no, i'm sure that didn't help, but i think there's a gap in his 4 loves, that's all. ~K.J. Shoemaker
should've elaborated a little: he talks of the degrees as if they are "steps" - step 1, 2, 3 and so on as one progresses in "loving God." does it make more sense that way? it does to me... step 1 is built in (human nature), step 2 (still human nature - found god to be helpful and necessary at this point), and step 3+4 get a bit more supernatural, i.e. doesn't happen without some kind of transformation in "Self." Step 3 he mentions as the step when loving one's neighbor becomes an undeniable reality. Step 4 is trickiest, methinks, and yet it strikes a (beautiful) chord. It's foreign and a bit too radical to practice as it hinges on God and not Self. Anyway. More later.
2 comments:
hmmm, still thinking. but it seems that "Love god with all heart, mind, soul and strength; AND love your neighbor as yourself"... have to be able to love god because he's god, love yourself because god made you and you're lovable, and love others because that's the same love that god has for all.
no, i'm sure that didn't help, but i think there's a gap in his 4 loves, that's all.
~K.J. Shoemaker
should've elaborated a little: he talks of the degrees as if they are "steps" - step 1, 2, 3 and so on as one progresses in "loving God." does it make more sense that way? it does to me... step 1 is built in (human nature), step 2 (still human nature - found god to be helpful and necessary at this point), and step 3+4 get a bit more supernatural, i.e. doesn't happen without some kind of transformation in "Self." Step 3 he mentions as the step when loving one's neighbor becomes an undeniable reality. Step 4 is trickiest, methinks, and yet it strikes a (beautiful) chord. It's foreign and a bit too radical to practice as it hinges on God and not Self. Anyway. More later.
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