Earlier we talked about God being perfect, and that if God had any flaws then so would the universe, and it would have collapsed a long time ago. So we believe that God is eternal and perfect. Only “good” can sustain the universe or a society into the future.

So, we believe that God has only one nature, perfect and loving because any other nature would lead to the ending of the universe. Think of God as being a gardener who has prepared a HUGE garden for Its human children. Like a gardener, God provides all of the nutrients that vegetables, fruits, nuts, and berries need to grow and become ripe.

Like a good gardener, God does not walk on the new plants or put harmful materials on the plants, but simply lets them grow in the rain and sunshine to become full and whole. God does that for us, too! God does not harm us or cause us problems. God is good, whole, and complete — and enjoys us growing and experiencing life to become the best people we can become.

In fact, God is so good that we call God “loving”. That is the perfect and complete expression of being good.

In three words, God is love. God created and creates everything as a loving idea. What is in the universe stems from the pattern of making good decisions using the values that God gave our species. What is not-loving comes from the free will decisions of people who do not use the pattern and values for good decision-making. Some people have been confused about the hurtful things that occur in the world. When they see hate and violence against others, it is not God that started that. It is people.

Martin Luther King, Jr. had much to say about the power of love and the ends that love can bring, in his sermon, "Loving Your Enemy."

"Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend. We never get rid of an enemy by meeting hate with hate; we get rid of an enemy by getting rid of enmity. By its very nature hate destroys and tears down; by its very nature, love creates and builds up...." ("Strength To Love,” 1963:521.)

Taking Dr. King's advice, when we focus our intent and decisions only on love, we can move forward into a new development of our relationship with God — as partner and co-creator. Our partnership with God supports our responsibilities to aid the healing of our planet and ourselves — learning to love more completely.

We will have no confusion about our relationship to others when we understand clearly that our relationship with God has only one nature. When we feel safe in God's universe and we feel safe in our relationship with God, then we can trust God and ourselves to act and make decisions that move us into loving, sacred relationships.