Love Is the Way Through

I’ve doubted the existence of God plenty of times in my life.

I’ve gone through times when I felt like I was in a fog of uncertainty about what to believe or who to believe.

But I’ve always come back to one idea. A guiding light, a “true north,” whatever you want to call it.

I’ll get there in a second.

If you’re like me, you’ve gone through some stuff. A loss of a loved one, a cancer diagnosis, a betrayal, an assault, something that’s knocked the wind out of you, dropped you to the floor. Where’s God in that?

And if you’re like me, you’ve seen some stuff that makes you question everything. Tragedy in the news. Religious people who say or do things that make you groan. Where’s God in that?

Maybe you grew up in church or with some kind of faith, and you’ve done your best to stay away from it all as soon as you packed up your car for college and had your hometown in the rearview mirror. Maybe you’ve done your best your whole life to stay away from anything that smells like religion.

I get it. I’ve had my days. I wish I could answer all of the questions that we have about God or religion.

But if it’s okay with you, I’d love to share a possible way forward, an open door to God or to faith that may have been shut before.

Despite all of the pain I’ve seen and I’ve been through, and despite what I see any other “religious” people do, I’ve always come back to this one statement:

God is love. And love is the way through.

The first half’s not my idea. You can find it in the New Testament of the Bible (1 John 4:8).

I’ve always come back to this idea, that God is love, because my experience has shown me that love is the way best way through whatever mess I’m in, whatever confusion I have, whatever weight I’m carrying.

Maybe you’re not at a place to show up at a church or a bible study or anything like that, maybe you have a hundred questions or problems with faith, but I think this is a great starting point for any of us:

Love is the way through.

Love is the way through your doubts and questions.

Love is the way through your failure or the ways someone has failed you.

Love is the way through the chaos that you’re in or that you’re reading about in the news.

For me, this has always been the light to lead me through. More than all of the right answers, more than crystal-clear insight, more than easy solutions…love has always been the best way through.

I may not know why something’s happening or what the exact right move is, but I can ask myself some questions about love — is this path I’m on leading me to more love? Am I becoming a more loving person or not? Is my love for people around me growing deeper, or am I shortchanging them?

Sometimes, the answer is less love. I can start to see that whatever I’ve turned to in my pain or my confusion or my questioning isn’t good for me.

But when I’ve been led to more love, to deeper love, that’s where I’ve found God each and every time.

For me, love always been the way through.

Love will always be the way through.

And maybe, like me, that’s where you can find God, too.