God is Love

“Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God...for God is love.” 

(I John 4:7-8)

Grace:

A familiar children’s song in Christian Sunday School repeats “God is Love; God is Love,” echoing a verse from the first of three Johannine letters in the Christian Bible. In this text, an elder addresses both youth and adults of the community with the affectionate greeting “my little children.” Yet the writer uses a Greek word for love that goes far beyond affection: not eros (sensate love), nor even filios (love of friend or kin), but agape, sacrificial love grounded in action rather than feeling. Agape extends compassion, forgiveness, and mercy even towards an enemy. It is the divine love that Christians see manifest in Jesus, and that, in my mind, enables human beings to see God in one another.

Yasmina:

In Islam, loving God is incomplete if it is not coupled with doing what pleases Him. All the prophets displayed examples of how to put this love into action. The prophet Muhammad [Peace and Blessings be upon him], whose life was recorded in extensive detail, once said: “The most beloved of you to God are the ones who are best to His creatures.” Honorable qualities such as compassion, forgiveness, generosity, caring and mercy are to be applied towards all God’s creatures as clear signs of our love for Him. Individuals who possess these qualities can lead others to remember, praise and glorify God. The prophet Muhammad [Peace and Blessings be upon him], offered the following supplication,[1] which was attributed to David [Peace and Blessings be upon Him]: “O Lord, grant me the love of Thee; grant me the love of those that love Thee; grant that I may do the deed that wins Thy love; make Thy love dearer to me than self, family and cold water.”

Tziporah:

Reading Grace’s words and Yasmina’s response, I am immediately struck by the extent to which all three of us feel connected to God’s love.  It is this shared belief that serves as a foundation for our friendship, as well as for our faith.  Jews teach that God’s love for all of creation is at the core of God’s compassion for all creatures.  This love is best expressed in the Jewish liturgy in a prayer known as “Ashrei,” which is often led by school children and is also attributed to King David: “God is good to all; God’s compassion extends over all creatures.”[2] When I hear the psalmist’s words sung aloud, I am filled with a yearning to embody such pure generosity of spirit.  I am inspired to imitate God’s love—to find a way to be good by behaving toward others with compassion and kindness.

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[1] From the Hadith, in the book Sunan at-Tirmidhi.

[2] Psalms 145:9

The Beginning

“And God said, ‘Let us make a human in our image, according to our likeness….’”

(Genesis 1:26)

Tziporah:

From an early age, children begin to ask “why” to try to make sense of the world around them.  Similarly, this verse inspires me to ask “why is God speaking in the first person plural?” According to rabbinic legend, God is addressing a heavenly court of angels, consulting with them about whether the time to create humanity has arrived.  I love the image of God—almighty and above all creatures—asking permission to complete the work of creation.  According to Rashi’s commentary,[1] “the text teaches courtesy and humility; the greater person should consult and ask permission from the lesser person.”  This lesson resonates for me: When we share in the process of decision-making and treat each other with courtesy and respect, we elevate our daily interactions to acts of holiness. 

Grace:

I take delight in the rabbinic legend that Tziporah recounts.  This verse also raises a question for me: Just how do human beings bear the image of God?  If we do not view as literal the anthropomorphic images of God popularized in Western art, how do we see our spirits as bearing the imprint of God’s DNA?  In what is often referred to as Jesus’ “high priestly prayer,” Jesus prayed, “…that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me.”[2]  Do we have the potential to be in God and to see God in every human being? Definitely.  Is this a Divine calling?  I think so.

Yasmina:

Indeed, humility and courtesy are virtues that elevate the human rapport, and the idea of consultation[3] is innate to Islamic decision making.  However, Islam teaches that God is All Wise and All Knowing and therefore does not seek council from anyone. One Quranic account of the creation of man reads: “Behold! Thy Lord said to the angels: I am about to create man, from sounding clay from mud molded into shape; when I have fashioned him in due proportion and breathed into him of My spirit, fall ye down in obeisance to him.” (15:29-30) God honors Adam by mentioning him to the angels before creating him and by commanding the angels to prostrate to him. Although different from the rabbinic legend, this narration leads to the same lesson of humility. If the heavenly court was commanded to honor Adam, are we not—as sons of Adam—commanded to honor each other and all God’s creatures?  Undoubtedly, acting with humility is one of the ways we honor God.

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[1] Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki) lived in France (1040-1105).

[2] John 17: 22-23. This prayer offers Christians one way of understanding the plural use of “our” when referring to the one God.

[3] This concept is known as shura in Arabic.