tell them about my love

Every human being has the desire to love and be loved, do we not? We all have questions about who we are and why we are. We have questions about the universe, the stars, questions about how they can make a jellybean taste like popcorn...and about why a tiny child has to die. We try to make sense of the world around us, constantly taking in and sorting information like a computer that is never turned off. Are we matter or spirit, and why does it matter anyway? And for some of us, like my sixteen-year-old son, why are we wasting time asking stupid questions when it is a bluebird, knee-deep powder day in Colorado and the mountain is calling, drawing us like a tractor beam, ready to be traversed down at death-defying speeds with a shout and a grin. And in the end, he is right. We were created for life, vibrant life, free from fear and pain, sorrow and, frankly, gravity. We were created to Love, fall head-over-heels in Love, be transformed by Love, and to rest in...Love. But I don't want to get ahead of myself.

In the following pages you will be challenged, I hope, to come outside of every box you have ever built to contain yourself in your mind. To venture out of the boxes that others taught you to build, about what this life is all about, about who God is, or is not, and whether or not there even is a God. The secret answers all lie within you if you are willing to have a conversation with Truth, one on One. The Light will begin to dawn in your heart and then your mind and open up a whole new world of wonderment and joy such as you have never experienced before, if you let It.

Chances are, as I said before, you will be challenged. You may get angry, at first. You may be fearful, not willing to listen because these are not the things you have been taught, and you will have to weigh them out for yourself. But then you will settle down and the Spirit will show you things you will know...that you already knew...somehow. Like an echo from long ago, from some faraway place or time, like a de Ja Vu. But then it will fit like a glove, or a shoe that was made just for you. The Truth is comfortable. Love is a perfect fit. And perfect Love casts out fear.

When I first started working on this book I ran the first couple of chapters by two dear friends of mine. They are twenty and thirty-five years my seniors and are spiritual mentors to me. They told me that I was just "working out my salvation." I have heard people say that throughout my life in churches, with regards to others. I'm still not quite sure what it means, exactly, and it seemed like a pretty complicated statement to sort through so I choose to lay that aside. Their patient feedback, however, prompted me toward questions and comments that others would have in response to this book and debates that needed addressing, so the meeting only helped me to get further along in this writing. On the two and a half-hour drive home, God revealed another piece to me, because of the questions at the meeting. He put it into my mind to look at how we recognize Him, Jesus, the Son of Man, the Way, the Light. And He gave me examples to follow. This was one of the keys and this will be discussed at a later time when it makes more sense.

This is not about me working out my salvation. Jesus already accomplished that feat for me, and for all the children born of the Father before we were even created in the wombs of our earthly mothers. No, this is so much more. This is about Love, and is the truest Love Story of all time, ever before and forever after. I honor and respect both of them, and listened to their advice and guidance. I am indebted to them for their love, and it helped me to focus the lens of this book even more than before. One of the ironies of that meeting was that they made it very clear that although this was a "powerful testimony", it was not a theological paper. Whew! What a relief. I am not a theologian and I do not play one on T.V. I am a simple person with a childlike heart that is full of love and adventure. I am a Cellular and Molecular Biologist by degree and a soft tissue rehabilitation therapist by trade and people have been my passion since I can remember. I have been a Jack of all trades and a master of none, because that would have been boring. The deepest fear I have had throughout my life is not doing something adventurous because I was afraid. I was more afraid of being paralyzed by fear than afraid of going to try something scary. I always asked myself, "What's the worst that can happen?" And if I could deal with those consequences, if it did all go to pot, then it was worth trying at least. My deepest fears were never realized, though, and I continue to live my life, refusing to live in fear.

I encourage you to do the same, and I encourage you to read this book with your heart, prayerfully towards your Father if you know He is there, and with an open mind and heart towards such a Creator on the off-chance that one just may exist, if you don't. What do you have to lose, your pride? The cost of this book? And can you deal with those consequences? What you have to gain is priceless. You were created for one purpose and one purpose only: to love and be loved. Oh yes, and to soar through the sky with arms outstretched!