Tuesday, October 6
God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.
—1 John 4:16b
I heard a fascinating report on our public radio station.
According to scholar Drew Westen, there is
a design flaw in the human brain. We have a tendency to believe what we want to believe. We seek information and draw conclusions consistent with what we want to be true.
In other words, we don't just look at facts, weigh them, and come to the logical conclusion that the evidence supports.
Without knowing it, we also weigh what we would feel like if we were to choose one conclusion or another, and we usually choose the conclusion that would make us feel better, no matter what the facts are.
What if we took advantage of that alleged design flaw, and let love be the filter through which we experience life? If we do have a tendency to believe what we want to believe, then why not program ourselves to believe in love? After all, love is the central characteristic of the revelation of God through Jesus.
Look at the essence of Jesus. He summarized all the Law and the Prophets with the Great Commandment: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself." He added to that the New Commandment, "Love one another." John's epistle said it most simply, "God is Love."
So what if we really wanted to believe in love? We could experience life through the primary filter of love. We could love life. We could seek information and draw conclusions consistent with what we want to be true, that love is everything. We could be wiring our brains with God.
Loving God, you have taught us to fulfill your will by loving you and our neighbor, open our eyes to see your love in the world around us. Amen.
These Signposts were originally published on explorefaith.org in 2005.
