To speak of divine love means that we have entered the essence of religion and its deep spiritual dimensions. “Love” is the end of the teachings of all the heavenly religions, summarized by the Islamic narrative: “Is religion other than love?” It actually  settled the definition of religion and limited it to love only.

And it is no better than the words of Jesus, Peace be upon you: “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who offend you”. That saying represents the pinnacle of moral ascent.

They are the same teachings, despite their many sources and backgrounds.

Love in the age of globalization

In our world today, we need to talk much about the soul, love, God and religion, a talk that must live up to all the achievements of the modern world.

Perhaps our role, that we must develop in the framework of the initiative of the “True Life in God Association”, is to keep pace with the era of material development through spiritual development, without being distracted with issues of lesser value and importance. Arranging our priorities makes us put this issue as the highest priority, and that is a great responsibility that may be undertaken by the group of “True Life in God” and we are all serving it, and primarily the preacher of God, the wanderer around the world (Vassula Ryden), to whom we owe gratitude for her tremendous efforts towards a world of peace, prosperity and love.

Sister Vassula;

Even though I am a preacher of God in the Islamic way, but I cannot help but to press your hands to move forward in your creative and wonderful projects, which remind me of the saying of the Messenger of Allah “Muhammad”: “the best people are those who are most useful to people”.  To give you the characteristic of being one of the best people is because you are one of the most useful persons to people.

Vassula: We may be captivated by some concepts of our religion, or some of our inherited habits, or some of the limitations of our society, but you live in the midst of the Spirit, of love, of God and of Christ. We aspire that you intensify your efforts, not because we are incapable, but because our planet needs efforts like yours.

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen:

Make sure you are aware that one of the plagues of the modern era, which we are going to face, or we are already facing, is a kind of overlap between all religious, social, cultural and political cultures.  The human being, in our era, is no longer satisfied with only an inherited culture; a lot of what is being proposed has become unable to meet his desires and ambitions, and we must be up to the level of developments. If I am to suggest a vision of the work of “True life in God,” I consider that its role lies in the following:

A – This group can be an oasis that seeks to cope between the two sides: the material and the spiritual. Many societies are witnessing only material development, and some societies are witnessing spiritual progress without being accompanied by any material development. The gap between the two sides is still deep.

B – True Life in God should play a broader role among religions as it played a great role among the Christian religious groups…In this task we can help with all our efforts.

C – As one of our, and your, most important goals is “peace” and “love”, we can proceed from these two concepts as an intellectual basis for all our movements, especially in societies that lack it.

Finally, our pilgrimage is a duty, a responsibility and an opportunity:  a duty to meet as different – religiously, regionally and culturally; a responsibility to spread our way of thinking throughout the globe and an opportunity to serve God and mankind.  We must also take advantage of this precious opportunity. We are tracing history for mankind with our steps, drawing the milestones of a religious era that will take shape in our near future. It is a responsibility that Vassula has addressed, and she will be immortalized in history. God will also reward her, as well as Christ, Muhammad, Moses, and all the righteous, the saints, and the martyrs.

 

Sheikh Mohamad Ali El-Hajj Ali Al-Amili

Director of the Seminary of Imam As-Sajjad, Beirut