God is Love - Poem by Raymond A. Foss

In the letter, the words of John
written later, distilling, aware, understanding
after the walk with the One, sent to earth as was foretold
after the loss of his dying, the joy of his rising
the awareness of all that had been fulfilled
after the day of Pentecost, the filling with the Spirit
the sending forth, to the ends of the earth

Transforming words, of insight, of understanding
God is love. A clear declarative statement, present-tense
full of hope, of joy, of a changing view of the world.

God is love;
not that he loved us merely,
not even that he sent His Son
not even that He loves us now and in the future.

A state of being, the essence, the way to know God
That He is love, incarnate, in the world now
that our Creator, our Savior, our Guide
indwelling within us, is love.

That He is the same thing as love, deep, abiding, eternal,
that the thing we call love; this noun, this verb,
even the adjective, lovingly, is to say something,
someone is acting in the way of God;
that what we see in others, that we share
that which we feel, love,
all of that is the same thing as God

In mathematical terms the equation,
the permanent, immutable truth
God = Love

That to feel love is to know God;
If only we could get that into our thick skulls!

June 19, 2009
1 John 4:8
1 John 4:16
1 John 4:1-21
1 John 3:1-24