A CHAPEL ON THE BRIDGE LESSON

Nancy Detweiler, M.Ed., M.Div.

LOVE IS THE WAY

The sacred texts of all world religions teach, "Love is the Way!"

Many of us respond with questions. "How impractical and unrealistic can this be? How can we take this world, seemingly hinged to the ideas of war, fear, terrorism, powerlessness, lack, and turn it into a world of love? That’s impossible!"

We yearn to live in such a world. Tears flow down our cheeks as we sing, "Let there be peace on earth ... the peace that was meant to be ... and let it begin with me!" Tears spilling from our physical eyes reveal the vision of the world we can perceive with our Third Eye chakra, or the eye of God within each of us. Our souls remember a world based on love. Deep within, we know it is possible. After all, the Garden of Eden was the portal through which we entered the physical plane. The Eternal Part of ourselves knows who we truly are—children of our Father/Mother God.

So, how can we, as a planetary family, move from where we are to where we long to be? Love is the Way!

Love? You mean that sugary, sentimental emotion that we confuse with sex? ... Never having to say "I’m sorry?" ... Having someone else to fill the needs I believe myself incapable of fulfilling? No.

Love? You mean that compulsive need to be needed? ... Sympathy that strives to do it for others? ... The martyr complex? No.

The Way of Love is difficult to comprehend because we do not recognize the qualities of Love. Few have demonstrated Love on the physical plane. We must search the world’s sacred texts in order to find those who can show us how to walk the Way of Love. And, we must keep in mind that these same souls continue to be present with us in the form of Ascended Masters. We have not been cast upon this planet alone, with no access to higher dimensions of knowledge and assistance. Instead, we are here for the express purpose of learning to Love. The chaos in our world provides the stage on which we are to display the lessons of Love.

Where do we begin?

God is Love. As children of God, we are Love. Along the way, we lost touch with our love nature and with that of our God of Love. To fill the vacuum, we created a god in our own image ... a god that gets angry and takes heartless revenge ... a god that punishes and needs to be appeased ... a god that we have come to fear ... to blame. Within our minds and hearts, our God of Love gets tangled up with the god of anger that we created. As a result, our concept of Love is enmeshed with thoughts of fear, revenge, and punishment. The first step in walking the Way of Love is to purify our definition of Love.

Our sacred texts often use the metaphor of a soldier in battle. God is depicted as fighting on one side, while being against the other side. Contentment with the surface reading of these scriptures leads us into misconceptions and non-truth concerning the nature of God and our own spiritual journey. The soldier is the spiritual seeker; the battle is the temptations and challenges we encounter. Our God of Love enfolds us as we engage in our battles. And, yes, we must be merciless in removing all facets of darkness from our being, so that we might be filled to overflowing with Light. The more darkness (symbolized by our foes in battle) we get rid of, the more radiantly the Love that is our innermost being can shine forth. God’s love acts as a magnet, compelling us to win over life’s challenges and to once more become the beings of Love that we truly are.

The Old Testament book of Joshua is an example of the symbolic sacred text stories mirroring the battles in which we engage in order to conquer the Promised Land. The Promised Land is a metaphor. We conquer the Promised Land when we gain control over our lower nature and once more become the Love beings we were created to be. Once we grasp the inner wisdom beneath the surface words, our God of Love shines forth. We, thereby, purify our definition of God and of Love. All the fragments of non-truth are burned to the ground and destroyed. Our God of Love wants only the highest Good for every human being and guides us through the battles of life to that Good. We are, then, victorious over our enemies (our own dark spots) and free to walk the Way of Love.

With our newfound Truth, concerning the ways by which a God of Love is active in our lives, let us view our present planetary turmoil and determine the characteristics of the Way of Love.

The Way of Love recognizes that every human being on this planet is a beloved child of our Father/Mother God. There are no exceptions, regardless of how evil some particular persons may appear. God desires the highest Good for every child, not just a select few. Therefore, the Way of Love seeks to resolve all difficulties by providing the opportunity for all to receive their highest Good.

At first glance, we think, "This is crazy! What are we to do—allow the enemy to rob us of all we have, including our lives?" The Way of Love would remind us: "Love is the only true Power in the universe. Just as God led Joshua and the Hebrew people through their battles to the Promised Land, so our God of Love will lead us in re-creating the Garden of Eden on Earth. Our most powerful enemies are those non-truths upon which we base our willingness to walk paths other than the Way of Love. The Truth about the Power of Love must be our foundation for action.

Standing on a foundation of Love, view our planetary family through the eyes of God, who indwells every human being—whether or not we can perceive that spark of divinity. The divine plan for every human being is that all receive Good. Our God of Love created a Garden of Eden in which to place humanity. We still live and move and have our being within the energy of God’s love. It’s just that, for many, this Good is blocked—either by the individual’s consciousness or by someone who assumes dominance over that individual. The Way of Love would have each of us to do all we can to bring the highest Good into every human being’s life. All personal, local, state, national, and planetary policies are to be oriented toward achieving the highest Good for every individual on planet Earth. No human being is to be sacrificed for another.

The Way of Love requires transformation of all facets of life as we presently know it on our planet. The Garden of Eden is sprouting at the grass roots level all over the planet. Light Workers in physical body, the Ascended Masters, and the Galactic Federation of Light members from other planets and solar systems have created a matrix of Light that enfolds this planet. With a canopy of Light above and the grass roots level budding with Light, all that is not of the Light will gradually dissipate. Love is the most powerful force in the universe. Love is Light and darkness disappears before the Light. Thus, all that would deprive any human being of the highest Good will be dissolved. We can hasten this process by dedicating our every thought, word, and action to the Way of Love. We slow this process when we support any form of violence, deprivation, or dominance over another.

The Way of Love is characterized by its inability to perceive and relate to darkness. Instead, the Way of Love intuits the Good that is rising to the surface. As we focus on that Good and magnify it with our emotional and thought energy, we bring it into being. Our God of Love holds steady the Immaculate Conception of perfection for each of us and for our planet. To restore the Garden of Eden on our planet is fully within the realm of possibility. But, each of us must contribute to supporting the Light and its various manifestations on our planet. How so?

Light Workers (meaning those who are dedicated to increasing the Light) are emerging. Some are already in positions of leadership; others are expressing the willingness to assume a leadership role. We contribute to the Light by being alert to these Light Workers and supporting them in their efforts. The Way of Love requires us to rise above the structures that are presently in place ... and to cast our allegiance behind those who will assist in spreading Light and Love over our planet.

For example: Did you know that two months prior to 9/11/01, on 7/11/01, Congressman Dennis Kucinich introduced H.R. 2459 to the US House of Representatives? H.R. 2459 would establish a cabinet level Department of Peace whose mission would be to develop avenues through which to create peaceful solutions to our national and international problems. Instead, we now have a cabinet level Department of Homeland Security. We responded with fear instead of love. (For more information, see http://www.thepeacealliance.org/ )

Loyalty to any facet of our planetary life that straggles the life force from another must be released. We must rise above all that would divide us in our efforts to permeate our planet with Light.

The Way of Love is active, not passive. In the words of I John 3:17-18: "How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? ... Let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action." The Way of Love will join forces with those who speak for the Good of all human beings. We cannot serve two masters: the Way of Love and the path of violence, hate, fear, and revenge. "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love." (I John 4:18)

Ask yourself: "Who on this planet is speaking out for love, light, peace, and Good for all persons? Who is presenting alternative solutions to the present path of violence? Who is working to see that all of humanity receives the highest Good—Good to which they are entitled as beloved children of Father/Mother God?" The Way of Love would have us support and assist these Light Workers.

The Way of Love is not necessarily the easy way. Although Love is the most powerful force in the universe, it requires courage and persistence to demonstrate that fact. As we learn to consciously choose the Good, even in the midst of overwhelming opposition, we develop our spiritual muscles. That’s why our souls incarnated on this planet—it affords us the chance to strengthen our spirituality, to mature into the child-gods that each of us are. We forfeit that opportunity when we choose to support anything less than Light and Love.

The Way of Love recognizes the true beauty in life and strives to enhance and share it. The Way of Love fills life with the healing sounds of music ... with art ... with drama that reveals the true loveliness of humanity. The Way of Love strives to assist every individual to be the creative and unique being he/she is. The Way of Love understands the tremendous value of all persons fulfilling their role within the Divine Plan. No one is indispensable. To allow even one member of our human family to become "collateral damage" is unthinkable.

The Way of Love can conceive of no thing or no action that exists outside the realm of Love. The Way of Love knows there is no justification for supporting even the tiniest manifestation of darkness. The Way of Love can fathom no reason great enough to cause one of us to step off the path of Light. The Way of Love is absolute Love.

May each of us make the conscious choice to walk the Way of Love. In so doing, we increase the brilliance of the Light already shining on our planet. For it is within this New Aquarian Age that humanity will come to live once more in the Garden of Eden.

Let us hasten the appearance of this Golden Age! AMEN and so it is!