artwork by Annalisa Barelli
We put all of our emphasis on the second part of the commandment because we are unsure about how or if we are doing the first part. What do we do when we love God? I have the scriptural response: “If you love me, keep my commands.” (John 14:15) I don’t disagree, but that gets us looking back at ourselves. One of the best ways of loving God is paying attention to Him in the moment. If you love God in the moment, you will keep His commands—not because you should, but because you want to.
Paying attention in the moment…what does that mean? It means being aware of God’s presence right where you are standing. It is the most fun part of the relationship. When the putt goes in or lips out. When you understand coincidence just might not be. When you realize that things generally turn out better than you deserve. When you breathe and become aware it is a gift. Paying attention in the moment can be sensory, but it goes deeper than that. It is triggered by wanting to be closer to God.
God’s easiest path to loving Him is nature. Not everybody gives Him credit, but most all of us love and admire His creation. His original draft was so pristine! Most of the blights that cover the planet at this time are attributable to humankind. His wonders are ever unfolding, always popping up with originality and freshness. It gets even better. Loving God in nature doesn’t mean just enjoying His creation like some piece of art in a museum—it means stepping into His creation (there goes that paying attention thing again). It means climbing up mountains and skiing down them…taking walks…watching the sunset…listening…going outdoors and enjoying it. I saw two male mallards fighting over a girl today, partly on land, partly in water—I didn’t get all He was trying to teach me, but He got my attention.
The most obvious pathway to loving God is prayer. I know there are other mental pathways. Here’s what I like about prayer: I’m not just talking to myself, and I can say what I think or feel without fear: He already knows! Not that I do that—but I am learning. He has showed me that He wants me to be me. I always tried to think of what I should say—like I could impress God. When I first converted (45 years ago), we did a lot of group prayer. I would sit in the circle and fervently compose my prayer, throwing in an occasional “amen” or “yes, Lord” so that people would think I was present. Now I have a sort of running dialogue with Him—of course, I do most of the talking, but He has infinite mysterious ways of getting His point across. I used to think of prayer as a spiritual discipline– I’m just starting to understand Paul’s instruction: …pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
It’s hard for me to communicate the joy, the thrill that loving God brings into my life. On one level, it feels like an adolescent gushing about a first crush. But it has been 45 years. In retrospect, it is easy to see how faithful, how trustworthy, how gentle, how loving He has been through every stage of my life. On the other hand, just being honest, it’s apparent how inconstant, how double-minded, how unpredictable I have been in my affections toward Him. And yet, here we are together. I love Him so much. When paying attention, it is impossible not to.
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”—JOHN 14: 27
That’s one of my favorite verses. I have many I like a lot. I keep them all on my iPhones Notes on a page titled simply “Bible Verses I Like”. I suppose I should like them all, however some I find disturbing, especially from the Old Testament. It seems irreverent somehow that in my daily running conversations with God that I sometimes call him Dude? As in — “Dude you did amazing this morning on the sunrise colors!” I don’t know if he minds my informal chats, somehow I think he is ok with it. ?