The short answer, “Yes, of course.” The actual short answer is, “Duh.” They say, “God is love.” That statement actually describes love not God. You see God is love. There is no love outside of God; this is true regardless of how we feel about it. So if we have felt any pangs or flutters we should thank God and so the closer we get to God the closer we get to love.
“Does God love us?” This is the only question we ever ask; but the actual question we should ask is, “Do we love God?” God gives and we receive; it’s like the Jordan River unless we too pass that love on, that grace, we become The Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is the end of the line for the Jordan; it tries to keep all the good stuff coming to it from the Jordan all for itself and that is why it is “Dead”. Compare that to the Sea of Galilee, another sea on the Jordan; it passes on what it is given and it teams with a diversity of life.
So love is like life and death on the Jordan. Unless we give what is given, those little fishies of love which happen upon the Sea of You will not be swimming very long.
So what does this have to do with Chaz Bono? Chaz seems to have only asked the first question. “Does Jesus love me?” and the answer is, “Yes, of course.” The next step was then not to ask the second question and start the process of being in love, but to use that answer as a battering ram to any concern placed in the way.
“Only God can judge.” This is a true and accurate statement. It is also a taunt, not to mere judgmental humans, to God. The issuer of this statement is calling God to judgment. God wants to be merciful but we bind His hands in our desire for vengeance and must drink that cup also. “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who have trespassed against us.” Jesus taught us to pray this in His prayer, it’s referred to as The Our Father or the Lord’s Prayer it can be found in Matthew 6: 9-13 and Luke 11: 2-4. It strikes at the heart of the foundation of love.
Chaz Bono desires dignity and respect from the public at large, but what is dignity? Dignity is defined as an innate right to respect and ethical treatment, the earliest theory of dignity and the truest was derived by the Church. Human beings have dignity because God created us in His image and conferred upon us the ability to reason so we have a free will like His own. “God created man a rational being, conferring upon him the dignity of a person who can initiate and control his own actions.” (1730, Catechism of the Catholic Church)
Chaz Bono chose to create herself in the image of man and part with herself as the image of God, echoing the desire of the original sin to be our own gods and becoming a very dead sea. So in a sense Chaz mortally wounded Chastity Bono’s dignity. This statement is misleading though because the human will rests in the human soul and Chaz could not change Chastity’s soul anymore than he could change her DNA. So it would be closer to say that Chastity Bono’s dignity is continually being offended until she repents.
Our dignity desires us to pursue not happiness in ourselves but happiness through the beatific vision. The beatific vision is our heavenly reward; it is direct vision of and full communion with God. There have been some saints, St. Thomas Aquinas pops to mind, who have been allowed a foretaste of this vision and have reported that it should in fact be the all consuming desire of our lives. Jesus directs us towards the beatific vision as He gave us the beatitudes.
The Beatitudes
He said:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (The New International Bible Matthew 5: 3-12)
It may seem to some, or all, that I am transgressing the beatitudes by picking on Chaz Bono, that I am a “hater” as Chaz puts it and a pretty dead sea myself. If no one cares enough to tell the truth then we will simply fall deeper into our self absorbed miseries and no one will suggest a way out. Loving people can be scary but I have to tell you the truth regardless of how I feel.
The truth being the only way out of our self absorbed miseries is Jesus Christ. Chaz and everyone else for that matter will simply try to manipulate themselves superficially until we get to that last heartbreak; the one before we die or accept Christ. There are so many of us who would rather die bodily than die to our pride and our sin.
Considering the lack of parenting and parental self absorption Chaz has professed of Sonny and Cher. There are ample grounds for Chaz to begin understanding the mess which created the seedbed of emotional turmoil which would lead her down this road. Cher for her part has stuck up for Chaz by Tweet as of late, which is a good and positive thing for her to do. Mothers must defend their children and if she seems to be coming late to the game at least she’s there.
God’s love has amazing potential; the only problem with God’s love is us. Jesus loves you and Chaz Bono; do be good enough to return the favor.
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