My Life with God in and out of the Church
excerpt from chapter 6, pages
79-82
reveals that Christ's message was simple: love God and your neighbor
During my
philosophy studies, I observed nature. I admired the reptiles and fish, the
flowers and trees, the animals and birds. I focused upon the design of their
being evidently fashioned for a definite purpose. As the mountain lake
reflects the snow-covered slopes supplying its crystal water, so nature
reveals its very powerful, intelligent and good Creator.
From the
senses, reason learns nothing more about God. That simple knowledge, however,
inspires genuine worship. The wonders of nature -not only the starry sky and
the Grand Canyon but a bluebird and a baby - move us to acknowledge God as
Creator worthy of reverence, gratitude, praise and, yes, love. That
acknowledgment, that simple heartfelt sentiment is the quintessence of
religion in its most concentrated and purest form.
As I started
theology, a thought struck me. If God wanted more than the basic worship
inspired by nature, he would have to reveal more about his being and wishes.
In any case, this revelation would have to be intelligible to all humans and
therefore simple.
Jesus believed
that too. He spoke to ordinary people in Galilee: carpenters, farmers and
herders. He reached them on their level in everyday language. God's message
was simple and Christ's teaching was equally simple. As Christ once said,
people with the simplicity and humility of children would be able to
understand and embrace his revelation.
Christ knew
that, after his death, others would have to spread the message worldwide. For
this, if necessary, he could have recruited renowned teachers and writers,
philosophers and scholars. Instead, he chose fishermen and other ordinary
people. He revealed to them God's total plan; he pointed out what was
important; he showed them how to reach the human mind and heart.
The apostles
learned their lesson well. Fifty days after Christ's death in 30 AD, they
began to preach the gospel. Hearing Christ's message in everyday language, the
crowds grasped the divine revelation and joined the Christians.
After the
apostles died, the Christian community realized that other eyewitnesses of
Christ's life should record his revelation for future generations. Between
64-75 AD, Mark, a missionary companion of Peter and Paul, wrote an account of
Christ's life and teaching. He reported whatever the apostles considered
important, every essential element of Christ's revelation. In my copy, Mark's
Gospel covers 13 pages: nine report events and four contain the whole
substance of Christ's teaching.
When asked,
"Which commandment is the first of all?" Jesus answered, "You
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and
with all your mind. This is the greatest, the first commandment. And a second
is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two
commandments hang all the law and the prophets." On that occasion, he
repeated the ancient golden rule: "In everything, do to others as you
would have them do to you."
On the eve of
his death, while expressing his last wishes to his apostles, he said: "If
you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love. And this is my
commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. By this everyone
will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
Jesus reduced
his revelation of God to one word: love. Humans understand what love is and
they know how to love. As Jesus said, with love humans worship God and fulfill
his wishes. Love suffices and without it, nothing else matters. How very
simple!