Idolatry. Idolatry is what happens when anything or anyone is revered to the point that it takes the place of Jesus Christ, my Lord God. That is the premise. The question that I must grapple with before I move on with 2008 is an important one: can Love become an idol? I say no.

God is Love and God exists for the sole purpose of being I am. Therefore, the best possible thing I could do is to revere God. If I give God everything within my very being, then I am giving Him what He gave me first.

If God is the most OMNI (-present, -potent, -scient, etc.) pinnacle of good and there exists nothing or no one more magnificent, then God exists also to revere Himself and to continue to amplify Himself. If I continue to focus on an unabashed Love, then Love can never become an idol; enlarging Love can never be done in excess since Love in itself is limitless.

Jesus Christ is God and God is Love. For a practical application, as I am in Love more, I am more and more in alignment with God. The tricky aspect to all this is that as I am in Love, I see the face of God; this Love is within us. It is not that Love is culprit for idolatry at the point of recognition of Love in others.

However, when we assign Love to Other, than we are already diverting our attention away from I am. Love is not the idol if we remain in the heart of God. When Love becomes, Love is no longer I am. Love is then warped to (little “l”) love, the verb, object, and adjective. This derivative–our own formulaic conception–becomes that which is no longer Love who remains. The derivative is what can become an idol–but again, true Love cannot.

Like all perversions, we are to blame for distorting what is pure. We are to blame for our own attributions. As for me, I have to remember this so that my intentions are always to expand Love, cherish the overflow of Love, and never believe that I am supposed to be a selfish consumer of the diluted, little love.