This concise theology of love was constructed by The Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood (Dean, The New Theology School) after a recent night of dialogue/conversation with Ohio Death Row philosopher, Keith LaMar. Of particular consequence, is Hood’s consistent interaction with Lamar’s slogan, “Love is the only freedom.”
6.
“We are responsible to love and that’s it.”
-Keith Lamar
“Love is the only judge.”
-Jeff Hood
Let your mind go.
Follow it.
You can’t be healthy without love. You can’t function when you don’t have love in your heart. Existence without love is death.
Love is alive.
The word love is the only word that matters. All other words flow from that word. If you can’t define love…you can’t define life. You must get the definition of love right before you can grasp it…before you can hold it.
Love is defined.
There is always a love beyond love…a greater love to work toward…a greater love to believe in…a greater love to aspire to. So often love is a vision of tomorrow…a hope. When we put our faith in things hoped for…we discover love…the love beyond love.
Love is beyond.
Even in the partial love is perfect. For the partial is about waiting for the perfect…the expectation of the perfect…the belief that the perfect is possible. There is a perfection in engaging the partial. Love is not a treadmill…love is perpetual growth. We must place our hope in hope….in love.
Love is process.
Belief is an act. Belief is work. Belief is movement. Belief is change. Love is about belief. Love is active. Love is about doing the work to discover the truth. Love is about knowing truth. Love is about letting truth wash over you. Love is about letting truth set you free.
Love is belief.
There is no spirituality. There is no prayer. There is no practice. There are no sacraments. There is no communion. There is nothing without love.
Love is religion.
We are so distracted. We think that everything matters so much. We become blind. The world is deadly really. Love makes us stop and think about what it means to see…what it means to live. Love makes us put up or shut up. Love keeps us from running into all sorts of bullshit. Love keeps us from getting destroyed by a world that is determined to destroy us. Love helps us to open up our eyes…to survive.
Love is sight.
Love does not indoctrinate. Love frees the individual to think…feel…experience…for themselves. Love is the only way that we can honestly connect with people…by bringing our full self to the table. A bunch of robots aren’t capable of love. We must be free in order to know each other…to know the world.
Love is free.
Love is the most important thing we can do with our lives.
Breathe in.
Go do it.
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