(158-159) Works Of Love
Our Duty To Love Those We See
If any one says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he's a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. (I John 4: 20)
The Structure For Loving God
We are not meant to find love as a surprise
In a random encounter with someone lovable
The truth of love must be thus comprised
By a conscious choice to make love doable
To say in God our love is solely placed
Is to say a thing on its face absurd
What is it that we want to escape
From all the others in our world?
God in love is the middle term
The divine does not serve as end
This simple thing we must learn
To make a love that won't offend
When we love God instead of neighbor
We cannot love God at all
All humankind is not a stranger
To love them is in God's call
In truth, our God we cannot see
Although a presence remains abstract
Love itself is God's victory
In all creation to be exact
God expects us to love the tangible
Whom we can see and hear and touch
Not to love is unimaginable
And God expects that much
We cannot love God but through other people
Love's term must have three parts
We love all our neighbors to make things equal
Thus love God in our neighbor's heart