How to 'Love' God

Bernadette spoke about the ‘will’ as a primary force in her own journey to God. Those familiar with her writings may recall that she once suggested that, to get in touch with the will, imagine trying to pick up a piano. That force, the energy in the middle of the body (the Hara) must turn to God. Intention focused like a laser beam on Truth. Bernadette told a story about how when she was young she heard people talking about ‘love of God’ and it concerned her because she had no such feelings. Then she heard her father discussing a long-time dispute that had gone on between the Dominicans and the Franciscans. Apparently the Dominicans believed that the most important faculty in a life with God was the mind – to know God. The Franciscans, on the other hand, believed it was what they called the heart, by which they meant the ‘will to God’. That kind of love is not a feeling, and certainly not a sentiment. It is the force of one’s entire being focused on God. Once she heard this as a child, she was relieved. She knew the will in herself and turning that to God was her practice from then on.

If you are serious about knowing God, about Ultimate Truth, let nothing get in your way – most especially yourself. Don’t try for anything, not for good feelings about God or about yourself, not for questions about where you are on the path – don’t bother with any of that. Do everything you can to find God in yourself, in Nature, or wherever God reveals Itself to you. Go for it. You already have everything you need to do that. What are you waiting for - you do not need to read a single other word.