We're all guilty of stupid love. If you love an automobile, that's stupid. If you love a house, that's stupid. If you love a company or your place of employment, that's stupid. And, if you love your country, that's stupid. It's stupid to love anything that can't or won't love you back. I've fallen in love with a mountain before, all the while knowing that mountain was going to treat me just like it treated everyone else. I like that, even find some comfort in it. If you love your country because it does something special for you, that's false love . . . and it's stupid. Government can't love you any more than any institution can. It might do things that make life better or worse for you, but in the long run it doesn't give a hoot in hell about you.
Ok, so you love God and think Jesus Christ is the perfect hero. You pray to God and give your love to The Creator. You think Jesus Christ came to earth to make a great sacrifice for you so that you can be saved and not have to spend eternity in hell. That too is stupid love, and it's a stupid faith in God. What if God does exist, really is the Great Creator, but what if he's like any other institution that can't or won't love you back? How about this for real love: You love God because he created a wonderful playground for you here on earth, and he set you loose with a good brain to figure life out on your own. That's reason enough to love God. If God really did that, his expectations for mankind were too high. Mankind has proved to be anything but special when it comes to its treatment of the playground, the environment around us. If God really kept up on how we've managed things down here, we'd all be in deep shit. I love the bumper sticker that says: "Jesus is coming and he is pissed." Given our track record, he has a reason to be angry. He did die for us, you know, and we've even managed to screw that up.
Love is never a good gift if it comes from someone who puts conditions on it. I'll love you if . . . you treat me well, or jump when I say froggy, and give me money, or whatever. I'll love you if you'll love me back. That makes you somewhat of a phony lover. Want something that will love you unconditionally, get a dog. Otherwise, buck up and accept love that's conditioned. If you worship a God that requires love from you, what do you have? Well, you have a God that loves you within conditions. Have no other god before me, don't do this or that, and make sure you have made a profession of faith. Otherwise, you're lost . . . and damned. But you love Him anyway, and that's stupid love.
I'm an agnostic, but I still talk to God occasionally. It doesn't hurt to ask, "Are you paying attention?" Personally, I don't know for sure that he is. Maybe the best prayer of all is a silent one with no request. How about a prayer where you just stand in one spot, and do like a kid back in grade school. Hold up a hand and offer just the thought - "I am here, and I'm ready to deal with life. Thanks for the gift."
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