"There is plenty of love"

This morning as I was slowly waking up, I was lamenting the lack of love in the world and particularly in my contribution to the world. At least, I said to myself, I have heard of God. Where would an atheist get love from? There are limits to how much love you can make, after all.

"There is plenty of love" said the voice in my heart. "Everyone has lots of it. But much of it is misguided: You love your own desires, or attachments, rather than other people. The old classics like lust and gluttony, sure, but in this age people particularly love status, or respect. If they worked as tirelessly for others as they now work to be recognized, respected and looked up to, the world would be overflowing with love. Just like everyone has got a certain number of hours a day, so each has got a certain amount of love, but it too can be wasted on yourself."

There is more to this, like, once your love runs in the right direction, its quality can still be improved. But this is a start, to recognize that everyone loves, but to a large degree we love "in the wrong direction", toward ourselves rather than toward others.

St Teresa the Awesome

Awesome! That is my first impression of Saint Teresa of Avila. I recently got a mail from Amazon.com recommending her book, "The Interior Castle". Since that is a concept which I have thought and written occasionally over the last couple years, in my more touristly than saintly way, I was intrigued.

(I first saw the concept of an interior castle in a Japanese martial arts TV series and it struck me as profoundly true. I have not taken much interest in Catholic literature until just lately, since Catholic countries suck.)

I have a problem with St Teresa's work. The problem is that I stop at the beginning and don't want to go on, because her words are so awesome I just want to stop and read them again and laugh with joy at the brightness of it all. I can only hope this improves further into the book. Probably, since it is supposedly for the most part about things that are too high and holy for me at this time. But the beginning. Whoa.

Would it not be gross ignorance, my daughters, if, when a man was questioned about his name, or country, or parents, he could not answer? Stupid as this would be, it is unspeakably more foolish to care to learn nothing of our nature except that we possess bodies, and only to realize vaguely that we have souls, because people say so and it is a doctrine of faith.

St Teresa, where have you been all my life?

(PS: The book is available for free download elsewhere, legally, being out of copyright for centuries.)

At home and work, as it is done in Heaven

I began to think: Should we not strive to make each our own country "God's own country"? And not in a tribal or warlike sense, but a theocracy (God-rule) of the heart, by each of us pointing the compass needle of our mind toward the highest spiritual entity of which we can conceive. (This will necessarily vary from person to person, even within the same religion or philosophy. Your God is greater than my God if and in so far as the love and purity that flows from God through you is greater.) And then, with our mind so ordered, seek to promote the happiness of all, on Earth as it is done in Heaven. For there is no doubt, is there, that Heaven is a place of immense, overwhelming blessing upon every soul that abides there? Or do you think the angels or the saints fly around whacking each other with a rulebook and scolding: "You must do better!"

If there must be a Hell, let it be of their own creation who reside there. We are hardly obliged to add anything to it. Not even a single word. (Sometimes hard words need to be said, in exceptional circumstances, but only when they are meant to cause happiness in the end, and as soon as possible.)