is there a contradiction between the idea that God is the great I Am trying to experience itself through us and the idea that God is Love? If God is not an entity, how does God love us? Or is the idea that Love is the best force in the universe?

Well, my personal feeling is that in order to claim God is Love, God must be some kind of entity that loves us. When people say we are all unconditionally loved, who is doing the Loving? If we are on paths of spiritual development and suffer to learn lessons, who oversees this process?
I do see a major contradiction between the God is Everything Trying to Experience Itself and God is Love. I am not sure what I believe, but I personally find a lot more meaning in the notion of a personal, loving God.
Thoughts?

Bruce told something interesting in his "Voyage To Curiousity's Father". The creator created everything (the sent out "probes") by a mix of parts from the creator. One trait the creator implanted to the probes was love. Because through love, the sent out probes would not get lost, but always return to the creator. Like a cosmic glue.

Spooky

I am in agreement with you that a loving, personal God would have more meaning to me, as well. When I consider that we are both humans capable of loving others, I have to ask myself why? Certainly, there are creatures which inhabit this earth that do not function as we do, and differ in their habits and understandings of themselves. In looking around me, I can see how all of this works together to create a vibrant, complex, rich environment for all of life to enjoy in a grand experiment. Without love, I cannot see this. Without love, I merely survive.

Therefore, why love?

Because someone has loved me.

I would recognize as God no 'one' who cannot know me, no 'one' who cannot understand me completely. Therefore, God, to be God to me, must understand what love is.

If I am in the presence of God, I am in the presence of an understanding. I am in the presence of a truth. Perhaps this truth is like ourselves -- with a longing to grow beyond itself, and that is why we are here.

love, blink

JustineS wrote on Nov 14^th, 2008 at 12:59am:

  My deepest intuition tells me that God is both.  It is an individual, self aware Being/Consciousness, and also at the same time a Universal presence and connectedness between all of Creation. 

  Perhaps it's easier to understand if you look at this way; all of creation exists within God's being (and was created within and via It's being), but when God moved and created creation It kept part of itself individualized and unique, so that the Total is greater than the sum of it's parts. 

  It's kind of cool and awesome to realize that God is both a personal God, and also a Universal, impersonal, all permeating presence.

  Sometimes during meditation i think/feel about all this, and such an overwhelming gratitude fills me up, and all i can do is to thank Source for this beautiful gift of also being a self aware, individuated, unique being with the gift of choice, but also at the same time One with and part of everything else. 

  Saying thanks doesn't quite cut it, but maybe the tears express it better.

  Thank you for sharing your feelings on my post O.

  Nice post Nanner.  Btw, if you didn't see my reply to you on the other thread, i've been thinking about you very recently and 'out of the blue'.