I Could not Find It
"Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." (1 John 4:8 NIV)
I just couldn’t find it. I looked everywhere. I read through my Bible again and again. I looked in all the inspirational books I own. I checked out the other sacred texts as well. I walked through the woods looking for it. I even closed my eyes in meditation and prayer and looked for it deep within my own heart and soul. I could not find it anywhere. There was not a word, not a hint, and not even a feeling of it.
Nowhere could I find a single drop of evidence that God is hate.
I know that a lot of people out there must think that God is hate. The protestors that hold up the signs about how God hates us at the funerals of miners and soldiers must think so. The people who say that earthquakes, tsunamis, and hurricanes are sent by God to punish us must think so. The terrorists who have killed thousands of innocent men, women, and children in their so called "holy war" must think so. As much as I tried, however, I couldn’t find one single thing that supported their view.
I did find thousands of references to God’s love in book after book. I found God’s love in nature, in others, and in my own heart and soul. Every word I read, hint I found, and feeling I felt all said the same thing: "God is love." Maybe all of those who think that God is hate just aren’t ready to know a God whose unconditional love is everywhere and in everyone. Maybe that is why they shut that love out. They want a God who loves little and hates much just like they do.
I just couldn’t find that God anywhere I looked. I don’t think I would ever want to either. I want the God who loves me and wants me to love as well. I want the God who fills every willing heart with His love and joy. I want the God who has been, is now, and always will be LOVE.
Joe Mazzella