God Loves Us

Sometimes, unbidden, a question surfaces—why so much writing, so much speech, so much repeated discourse on awakening? Why does every story, every metaphor, every experience orbit around that single truth?

To some eyes, it might seem mere spiritual vanity. The charge arises—"All this speaking is nothing but the broadcasting of one's own attainment."

But the source lies elsewhere. It is a vow—what Buddhist tradition calls the Bodhisattva vow. In the deepest darkness, when despair had reached its apex, a silent prayer broke forth—"If ever I come to know that peace of which awakened teachers speak, I will spend the remainder of my life making known this truth to others—especially to those treading the path of suffering."

Joined to this was another, simpler prayer—"Let me not forget the memory of my pain, that I might remain compassionate toward the suffering of others."

Perhaps this is why life occasionally hurls one against walls of emotion. Yet the blessing is this: once that deep awakening, that grace of compassion, came—it has not wavered. Unshaken, indestructible, it has remained like a flowing current in the depths of consciousness.

And yet a question pursues me still—"Why was I given so much?" Despite the mistakes of the past, the suffering inflicted by others, countless faults—how was such a new beginning possible? How did clarity arrive like sudden lightning, the feeling of an unexpected forgiveness, and the enveloping of an incomparable love?

How did peace come as a gift upon life's thorny path—boundless liberation, joy, inner stillness? How was it possible—as if in communion with God, in steadfast divine guidance, in a chance to begin anew, and in love for every small thing in life—people, nature, earth, flowers, rain—everything?

There are also external blessings—a loving family, enduring relationships, shelter, comfort, an endless treasury of friendship, a rich and luminous life.

So the question returns again and again—"Why so much? Why so very much?"

The answer comes simply, in one clear truth—God is benevolent. God is love. Love is peace. And life is truly beautiful. God loves us.