Transcending “Is”

We are creatures of action. Our language makes every effort to capture this action through words which in the English vernacular are called “verbs.” Sometimes when an action is not present, we use a verb to demonstrate a difference between action and inaction. Consider the statement, “Bob is sleeping.” The word “is” referring to the action of sleeping, which might not be an action in and of itself, signals the difference between activity and non-activity.

Consider this statement: God is love. This verse found repeatedly in the book of 1 John within the bible drives most people nuts for a multitude of reasons which I don’t have time to address in this limited space. However, I am going to wade into a little bit of this to look at how these three words joined together confound so many.

As I do this I want to begin with this caveat: Language is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. Therein lies the issue: Words attempt to capture what we imagine but they are inherently incomplete descriptors of Reality as we perceive it. (There is a lot to unpack in what I just declared which I’ll give you time to investigate on your own. I must move onward.)

Love

First off, let’s begin with the end: Love. How do you interpret this word? Most will claim this is an emotion associated with a feeling of happiness. If we were to look at the opposite of love as “hate” there would typically be a threat associated to our survival from this emotion of hate. So, we see here the representation of either happiness or survival in these two descriptors of differing emotions. These are the foundational beliefs of our ego. Our ego is constantly evaluating an action associated to an emotion to be either endangering our survival or bringing us happiness.

There is a multitude of people who have beliefs which see God as that great “fly-swatter” in the sky, just waiting to squash them for the littlest of mistakes. This is the survival mode of their egoic projection onto God. They have no happiness in their relationship with the Creator. To see Him as “love” is off their map of what they call “reality.”

There are also those who happily experience the “love” effect of God. They will confess this to all who will listen, beaming with the enchantment of finding their first true love. Over time this emotion naturally wanes since what can’t be physically seen or felt can create despair particularly in times of suffering and persecution.

What I have briefly described is the difficulty of an emotion. “Love” in both occurrences is an egoic projection based on the individual’s perceptions. These perceptions are not Reality; for a lack of a better term, they are “manufactured” from incomplete data to fit the needs of the ego.

What then is “love” in this verse? Well, we need to look at the two other words to get a better handle on this.

God

This is pretty straightforward. The “omni” God. All-knowing, All-powerful, All-present. The unseen Creator of All.

Some denominations have created a theology for a god who is “up-there, out-there” sitting on a throne waiting to pass the final judgement upon all humanity while ignoring the very words of Jesus who said that the Father is still working today. “Fire and brimstone” theology is what this is called, and while it might have been a popular message back in the day when the true revelation of God wasn’t promoted, it still persists in ministries today where control of the “flock” is the standard operating procedure.

And yet, God has not, and does not change.

Is

This word has the nature of being a verb within this verse. So, ask yourself, “Does this word describe the action of the word “love” or is it pointing to the active opposite description for the word “hate?” Before you answer this question, allow me to offer another question: Why does there need to be an either/or response from this matter?

One of the unique verb-like characteristics of the word “is” is how it relates to the nature of being, or to “be”, which is a verb also. It could be said that this verse might be read as “God be love.” (This would still cause issues with the first group of people, but that is for another day.) How then do we interpret this word in order to gain the fullest representation?

There is a belief within the Jewish faith that might shed a little light on this matter and open a door into another viewpoint not readily considered. There are some Jewish rabbis who have declared that “God” is a verb. If this is the case, the verse should be read as, “Love is God.”

Transcendence

If Jesus’ claim that the Father is still working holds up, then “God” clearly is a verb. Love then no longer becomes an emotion attached to an egoic projection of either survival or happiness. What then does love become? It must transcend into the realm of God and His kingdom.

Consider for a moment the air which you breath. You can’t see it. It is all around you. You know that wherever you travel there will be the same supply of it for as long as you need it. You understand that so long as you can breathe you have the motivation to continue to thrive. In this example, “air” is your god, the substance of your faith. Regardless how incomplete you see it, air is Reality. Nothing exists without air.

Creation, all of it, is a manifestation of love known as God. Nothing exists without love. There is no opposite to love because it has transcended the senses and emotions of mortals into the realm of the kingdom of the eternal omni-God. God, therefore, cannot be associated with an emotion either for survival or happiness. To say, “Love is” has as much weight as saying, “God is.”

I realize that there are a few who will not see any need to view this insight as pertinent to their spiritual development. I celebrate those in this position. However, it is to you who struggle with this matter of “Love is God” that this is directed toward. Until you can sort out this matter in your own psyche, you will not be able to address the next matter presented by Jesus in the verse “Love your enemies.”