BELIEFS

The World Love Church is a liberal religion born of the Jewish and Christian traditions. We keep our minds open to the religious questions people have struggled with in all times and places.

We believe that personal experience, conscience and reason should be the final authorities in religion. In the end religious authority lies not in a book or person or institution, but in ourselves. We put religious insights to the test of our hearts and minds. We uphold the free search for truth. Ours is a free faith.

We believe that religious wisdom is everchanging. Human understanding of life and death, the world and its mysteries, is never final. Revelation is continuous. We celebrate unfolding truths known to teachers, prophets and sages throughout the ages.

We affirm the worth of all women and men. We believe people should be encouraged to think for themselves. We know people differ in their opinions and life-styles and believe these differences generally should be honored.

We seek to act as a moral force in the world, believing that ethical living is the supreme witness of religion. The here and now and the effects our actions will have on future generations deeply concern us. We know that our relationships with one another, with other peoples, races and nations, should be governed by justice, equity and compassion.

~World Love Church~

 "Ithaka"
(translation/adaptation by Sarah Ban Breathnach)

"Pray that your journey be long,
full of many summer mornings
when with much pleasure and much joy
you anchor in harbors never seen before;
Browse through Phoenician markets,
to purchase exquisite treasures-
mother-of-pearl and coral, ebony and amber
and sensual perfumes of all kinds-
as much as you desire.
Visit many Egyptian cities, content
to sit at the feet of sages, eager
and open to receive learning.
Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Your arrival there is your destiny.
But do not hurry the journey at all; be patient.
Better that it lasts for many years-
longer than you can even imagine.
So that finally, when you reach this
sacred isle, you will be wise,
abundantly fulfilled by all you have gained along the way;
no longer expecting Ithaka to make you wealthy,
no longer needing Ithaka to make you rich.

Ithaka has given you the journey,
the chance to discover who you have always been.
Without Ithaka as your inspiration, you
never would have set out in search of Wholeness.

And should you find her poor, Ithaka did not deceive you.
Authentic as you have become, full of wisdom,
beauty and grace, enriched and enlightened by all you have experienced
You will finally understand what all of life's Ithakas truly mean."

Father-Mother God
by Rev. Scott L. Grossman
09-17-07
You were born to be happy. That is why God created you. God is your mother and your father and wants the same for you that any good parent would want for their child. Think about it. If you have a child, would you not want them to be educated, stable, secure, and generally happy? Would you want them to be successful? It would make you proud wouldn't it? God wants the same for you.

The first step towards happiness is letting go of the age old idea that God is perched on a cloud clutching a lightning bolt, just waiting to punish you for the smallest infraction of man's law. Man decided God was a male and the bible was written and translated by men. Who was King James anyway? He was an Englishman at a time when a certain class of men dominated the world.

We all imagine God in our image instead of it being the other way around. So at the time the bible was translated into the King James Version, it was put in the mindset of the 14th century, which was the timeframe in which it was translated from Aramaic. At the time the bible was actually written, English, as a language did not exist. So it is possible that God does not have a sex as sex is an Earthly thing designed to produce offspring. Therefore it is conceivable to view God as your Father-Mother or simply as a divine parent. It is further ok to assume that God wants you to be happy and successful in all that you do. And that God is not standing on a cloud with a lightning bolt ready to strike you at the first mistake.

Life is about perception and choices. Both influence the other on many levels. How we see ourselves is the leading factor in how we act or react to people and the things around us. The only way to be happy at work, school or in life, for that matter, is to first be happy with yourself. That starts with forgiving yourself and moving forward.

You have to understand that it is ok to forgive yourself even if you feel that others have not forgiven you. Why? Because if someone chooses not for forgive you, then it is something that only affect them not you. They have to find peace and forgiveness within themselves; as do you. Once you have resolved yourself of your self inflicted punishment, you can then get on with your life.

Let's talk about sin. A World Love Church minister defineds sin as Self-Inflicted Nonsense. Think about it. You drink too much and get drunk. Well you did it to yourself. You lie, kill, cheat or steal; once again it is something you did that is self-destructive. Almost everything the bible points to, as a sin is something that a person does that hurts themselves as well as others.

So what did Jesus really want from us? Basically Jesus just wanted people to do the right thing. Treat people like they would want to be treated, respect others and basically be a good natured and happy person. It is for that reason he often referred to the people as "children". Children are usually happy and playful and expect the world to love them. Children make mistakes and are quick to forgive those who make a mistake against them. Go and sin no more is basically telling a person to go and be nice to people and be good to yourself.

At the time when Jesus walked the Earth there was no bible to beat people over the head with. Jesus was a really good and kind man. Some people would say he was not the Son of God others would fight to the death to say he was. But in all truth, every man is the Son of God as every woman is the daughter of God so that argument in itself is moot. Jesus rose to a level above that obtained by even the best of people to act as an example of what we should all try to be. It would be a waste of time to debate his lineage. Rather, accept as fact that he was and we are, and that everything will be ok with time, patience and practice.
Be good to each other and to yourselves. Amen