Love

Love is the greatest power beyond faith, hope, and knowledge. With the power of love everything is made perfect. Love can remove envy, lust, sloth, vanity, anger, gluttony, greed, and criticism. When we appreciate, share, and help, there is no more wanting. When we put others first, there is no more anger or complaint. Hope allows for some prediction and worry. Faith needs trust and assurance. Love stands alone in its ability to conquer and succeed. Patience, kindness, and forgiveness are all products of love. What are the barriers to the love we seek? Our thirst to be God and all powerful and knowing causes us to believe we need and want more than we have. There lies the irony. If love is God, then we already have what we need. God is already within us when we care for all that is in our environment. If we feel we have all the answers to satisfy every ones needs and wants, then we want people to listen to us, act as we command, and even to be worshiped. Isn't it enough to be patient and kind without flaunting our knowledge? Some are meant to follow, and may our leaders be blessed by love.

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

The novel, " The Lost Symbol" is a history of the Masons and their architecture that is set in Washington DC. The author ties Science and Religion together in a way that is logical and spiritual. Obviously, if great Scientists of the past, such as Isaac Newton, respected the ancient mysteries; then there should be no more either/or between concrete and abstract thinkers. Stories that seem far fetched and whimsical to us now may have factual evidence to convince the most skeptical. But, there is a beauty in faith; believing in that which one has not experienced. If something is factual or not, it can still be believable when the history is well documented. Yet, history is so often fabricated or embellished. So, belief has to have a purpose. Goal driven people rely on faith as a motivator for their outcome based actions. No one is without a sense of trust, or there would be few with the confidence to build or create. Engineers are artists after all. So, to use mythical based design as their inspiration is a natural combination. The masons have rituals and a respect for a higher power. Brown often quotes Biblical scripture to point to the power within the brain of man. We are gods created in the image of God. Many men have believed themselves to be a god. I thought this egotistical, but it may have some legitimacy. Some people, like Einstein, had incredible connection with cognition and creativity. The fact that he was Jewish may be significant in the evolution of religious thought and scientific discovery. Mason's have a reverence for the bible and its ancient wisdom. Half of the bible is Jewish law, history and prophesy. Christians and Jews will always be closely tied together since Jesus was a Jew and the star of the second half of the bible. The Jewish are a "chosen " race and have been successful in many endeavors even when greatly oppressed. All of this was thrown together to make an exciting story that used biblical allusions. such as, Abraham willing to sacrifice his son as proof of his love of God. Brain power and blessings equal a rich life.