Whatever is not love in the world is motivated by fear.
It is all too easy to take sides and back us versus them: liberals versus conservatives, Christians versus Muslims, west versus east etc..
But there is always truth on both sides and whatever is not love is motivated by fear.
There is fear in the darkness.
When the light comes our fears are dispelled.
It is true spiritual experience which lessens our fears.
Faith that God will provide is true spiritual experience.
So, rather than taking sides and trying to beat the others, we should be looking to our fears and what triggers them.
And we should try to allay the fears of our opponents.
Our opponents are just like us.
It is a matter of degree only.
No one is condemned.
All are forgiven.
Once we realize this we can have a truly universal vision.
Hi Michael, I like your emphasis on opposition to fear and I agree with you, but I can't quite agree with your opening sentence: "Whatever is not love in the world is motivated by fear." I think there is a second factor that goes against love--it is the desire to dominate others; it is the lust for power.
ReplyDeleteHowever, this (and all your posts) would be a great post for the Progressive Christian Blogs community. I notice that you post comments and statements on communities, but I have never seen you link to a post from your blog. This would be a great way to gain attention and followers for your blog.
Have you chosen not to link to your blog posts in communities or are you unsure how best to do it. If you need information on the simple procedure, I am happy to help you with it. ~Tim Chastain
Tim, thank you for your comment.
DeleteWe have spoken about power before.
I believe that it is motivated by the fear of being dominated by others
There is however an addictive quality to power.
As regards the link, I am not sure how to do it.
My posts are automatically linked to google + but not to my community.
Could you instruct me via comments or email?
Sure, Michael! I am happy to help.
ReplyDelete1. Open your blog post that you wish to link.
2. Copy the web address at the top left of the page by right-clicking on it and choosing copy from the dropdown box. In the case of this post it would read:
http://michaeledwineast.blogspot.com/2013/10/universal-vision.html.
3. Open the community page you wish to put the link on, such as Progressive Christian Blogs.
4. In the Share What's New space, click the link icon.
5. In the ATTACH field, right-click in the middle of the field and paste the link. The article link and an image should appear.
6. In the TO field click the arrow and choose Discussion.
7. In the topmost field (Share what's new...) write an introduction to the article--something that will catch the readers attention and give an idea of what it is about.
I am sure I included steps you already know, but I wanted to be complete. If you run into a snag, just let me know and I will explain further. My email is tchastain@cfl.rr.com. We would love to have your blog posts represented on the community!
Thank you Tim,
DeleteI seem to have managed it.
Let me know if there are any problems.