Religions, too, sincerely, speak words of love, sacred pickup lines, heart-centered--
in Judaism
(Jewish Bible's extended metaphor of God saying 'He' is Israel's lover),
in Christianity, especially in Quakerism and Pietism
(Christians are Christ's bride),
in Sufi Islam,
in Bhakti Hinduism,
in some forms of Mahayana Buddhism,
in Unity/New Thought,
and so forth...
According to Quakerly, Wesleyan, Pietistic movement, God infinitely loves every single human
who has ever existed, and loves every single human
who will ever exist in the future.
"I saw also that there was an ocean of darkness and death, but an infinite ocean of light and love,
which flowed over the ocean of darkness."
--George Fox
up close and personal
but as a young, naive, troubled teen, I loved this hope, this spiritual pickup line
(made famous by spiritual crooners from George Fox
to John Wesley, John Woolman, D. L. Moody, Billy Graham, Thomas Kelly, Henri Nouwen, etc.)...
--
I Love This Line
“For God so loves everyone."
I love this line
That the Light, the Divine, Transcendent Reality, the Good--
the inexplicable TRANSCENDENCE at the center of the whole cosmos
cares for each of one of us
to the utmost!
What a wonder, what a hope, what an Everest height
that ultimate linguistic sign.
Yes, I love this line
Yet born with a constant why in my mouth
always seeking,
always looking beyond every belief, every doctrine,
I struggled far past usual doubt
Got gore-baptized by the horrors of Christian history...
heck, even rich Quakers owned slaves until 1776
though they bespoke that heartfelt spiritual pickup line,
their many brutal actions belied their spiritual romantic claim.
Yet I still love their line.
Despite Fox supporting the slaughters of Cromwell;
despite early Jesus wars in the 4th century
and ever since down to this troubled present;
and endless doctrinal horrors:
Augustine claimed Original Sin
in human sexual love-making, then
abandoned his long-time common lover
for God and, seeking for a high class woman,
he lined this line to eternal death.
And most Christians, including some Friends, while lipping "For God so loved.."
spoke darkly of God's hidden foreordinations to hell for God's glory,
total depravity, limited atonement, forced adoration,
and His constant killings for His own "good pleasure."
So many billions of religious folk lie that Lightful line--
with Biblical infanticide,
the Inquisition, heresy trials, burnings-at-the-stake,
multi-millions slaughtered dutifully for God and country,
Trinity, Jehovah,Allah,Shiva, Shinto, Buddha...
And Black Deaths, influenzas, plagues and famines
tsunamis, floods, and disasters,
and 30,000 children
dying daily--21 each minute;
such glaring harsh facts
bloody and leech all hope
from that lied line.
It does appear that Love’s not an endless YES,
never an the transcendent sphere,
not our Beloved’s ring,
No, not a never ending line of peace and mercy
but only a paltry pickup conning.
Now at 76 years, I hate this false line, the constant
come-on starter by Jews, Christians, Muslims and other con crooners.
How do we ever truly trust again?
Heck, some American and British Quakers even claim
there is NO Light, that only matter and energy exist!
Is there only Mere--as these Friends claim, no Transcendent myrrh?
What of the "impossible possibility" of a Niebuhr,
of the romantic one-liners of George Fox
and Margaret Fell?
That God never says never?
But only,
(to quote Tillich and St. Paul),
Yes, and Yes, and Yes.
But critical assessment of existence
cleavers God’s promise line--
I love you!
Still, I refuse to bow to that despairing cut
The slash of Never--
by creedalists, nontheists.
Let us hope against the brutal facts of religious history...
as did early Quakers though persecuted, abused, and killed--
that ever Past is
never
always Future.
Despite all negation, somehow,
let's still love this LIGHTFUL line--
Love wins.
In the Transcendent Light,
Dan Wilcox
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