Austin Fontaine 
Megan Novelli 1 John 4:9-10
“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”
What does love really mean? As Christians, we are taught that God loves us unconditionally and we ought to love others as well as God. But, as I think about what that really means, I realize that I have no real understanding of what the love of God actually is. The allegory of the cave can be applied to this fundamental Christian principle, that God is love. Just like the men chained in the cave facing the shadows, I see reflections of God’s love. I see it through the lives of other people, I read the stories in the Bible, I pray to have a relationship, but I still can only grasp a pinch of what God’s love completely entails. Even my own ability to love is only a reflection of the love of God. I cannot even fathom how it is possible to love every single person who has ever been and who will be. And not just to love them, but to love them with such a complexity and wholeness that it consumes you; it becomes the center of your entire being. I love my God, my family, my friends, but I know that I do not love with the entirety that God loves, nor will I ever while I am on this earth. I am stuck in the shadows. I cannot see the real light, only the glimpses and reflections. I am grateful though that I do not really know what the love of God is. I just remind myself that the love of God is probably one hundred times amazing that I can even fathom. It definitely gives me something to look forward to.
Furthermore, in the allegory of the cave, when the escaped prisoner goes back into the cave to tell the other prisoners of the truth he has seen, he is killed. The chained prisoners cannot fathom the truth and so react violently. This is similar to what happened to Jesus. He came as a man to bring the truth and splendor of God’s love to the world and what did we do? We crucified him. It is interesting to me that Plato predicted this scenario a couple hundred years before Christ. I think that shows how wise and timeless Plato’s ideas can be.
Alyssa Bowyer
12:24 am, 09.06.10
I definitely agree with all of this. Before reading your post, I hadn’t really put much thought in how the allegory of the cave applied to God’s love for us. But after reading through your post, I totally agree. We see glimpses and shadows that don’t measure up to the true love of God but leaving us desiring more. Yet we are not able to come close to conceptualizing the vastness God’s love; so instead of being able to leave the cave, we look more intently in to the shadows and glimpses in hopes of seeing and revealing a little more than the times before.
Amy McCarty
8:54 am, 09.06.10
I like the way you related the Allegory of the Cave to God’s love. I think that you are right, there is no way that we could ever fathom the real truth of God’s love beyond what we personally experience (the shadows on the wall).
I was also struck by your trying to imagine loving every person that ever lived with the depth and breadth of God’s love. Now, that’s incomprehensible! I’ve never actually thought about that before. I have been secure in God’s love for me, but haven’t really thought much beyond that.
Thanks Rachel!
Morgan Myer
10:39 am, 09.06.10
Wow I really liked this post a lot Rachel! In my experience, when talking with people that are not necessarily from a Christian background, especially adolescents, its hard to find a way to tell them about God’s love in a way they can understand (especially when I am not even close to comprehending how deep and wide His love is!) but you showed me the allegory of the cave really is a fantastic metaphor.
I especially liked the part where you paralled the escaped prisoner who gets killed to Jesus. And we can relate that to not only Him, but to all the martyrs who risk their lives telling people all over the world the good news. I hope we all strive to be the escaped prisoner to everyone we meet, because we know its worth the risk.
Anne Weaver
11:15 am, 09.06.10
I wonder if Jesus is also asking us to leave the cave with him. I guess I’m not really wondering that, I know that. What I’m trying to say is that Jesus is asking us to leave the cave with him but do we really follow him out? And even when we do, do we run back inside as quick as we can? You can equate some of those who make it out and try to convince others to come with them as martyrs. People don’t like change. I don’t like change. It is so terribly difficult, but we are called to be strangers in a strange land. We are called to a world that isn’t sheltered in a cave, a world that isn’t safe. But it is good.