God is love
I am an atheist, but I like to call myself a Romantic Atheist. I believe in God, though not in the traditional Christian way. I know, it sounds paradoxical. To simplify, I just say that I see the profound knowledge of the universe that Carl Sagan shared, but through the contemplative eyes of Alan Watts.
On this journey to understand what love is, I realized that, indeed, God is love. An atheist saying this? Yes. In Brazil, it is common to find churches with the phrase “God is love” written on their façades.
I learned from Stephen R. Covey the concept of interdependence, which in practice is the simplest way to explain love. No one loves anyone. Love is not something that can be practiced directly, nor something that can be possessed. What we can do is create the conditions for love to flow. It is like a current between people. It arises effortlessly, belonging to no one. Whoever tries to reach love does not find it, is not loved. Love appears when we understand that we are not separate from others: we are all one.
Love flows when we care for others as we would care for ourselves. Jesus, according to the Bible, taught exactly this. When I realized this truth, I understood that love is unity, it is the whole as one. God is love.
