Advent Visions
December 23: Love
Love. We see it all around, seek it with hunger and passion, grieve its ending. More songs and poems have been written about love than any other subject in the world. But the love that is chosen and lived is more glorious than the romance that bowls us over and convinces us that nothing could be easier. It is wonderful to see it in the lives of those who have been married in vital relationships for long years. But staying in a long love like that requires us to persevere in the face of many obstacles. These include the discovery that living with another human being reveals the dark side of ourselves. Love requires us to go into all those dark places with hope that understanding and forgiveness will give us another day.
Today we light the fourth candle on our Advent wreath. We call it the "candle of Love," and we set its flame to burning in order to announce that our small human loves, beautiful as they are, pale next to the supernova of God's love for us. Many humans say they don't believe in God, but they may still sense that the world cannot long endure without love. And what we need is not the "falling-in-love" sort of feeling. What we need is the love that chooses to be kind when it is not easy, which forgives instead of seeking revenge, which sees a mirror reflection in the eyes of a stranger, which would find some commonality in adversaries and admit its own shortcomings. This comes only by radical honesty and repeated practice.
I wish I were better at that. I do set it always as my goal: to love better. But here, on the edge of Christmas, I am grateful that love keeps coming after us. The message of Bethlehem is that in the heart of the universe is a love so breath-taking that it is beyond our understanding or deserving. But love isn't about deserving. It's more like the air we breathe, all around us. On our worst days, we still breathe it. In our darkest nights, it comes seeking us, calling us, covering us with its fierce tenderness. It's a baby in a manger, helplessly latching on to our hearts. It's a fire and a gift of gold, a wind stirring our souls, a fountain of life. It is hope. And peace. And joy. It will makes us new.
Love
So strong, so fierce,
Love
is a lion
more powerful than any
evil thing,
protector of all.
So wild, so beautiful,
Love
is the song
that fills the soul
and makes it dance.
So tender, so helpless,
Love
is a baby
whose little hands reach out
to be held
in your heart.
December 23: Love
Love. We see it all around, seek it with hunger and passion, grieve its ending. More songs and poems have been written about love than any other subject in the world. But the love that is chosen and lived is more glorious than the romance that bowls us over and convinces us that nothing could be easier. It is wonderful to see it in the lives of those who have been married in vital relationships for long years. But staying in a long love like that requires us to persevere in the face of many obstacles. These include the discovery that living with another human being reveals the dark side of ourselves. Love requires us to go into all those dark places with hope that understanding and forgiveness will give us another day.
Today we light the fourth candle on our Advent wreath. We call it the "candle of Love," and we set its flame to burning in order to announce that our small human loves, beautiful as they are, pale next to the supernova of God's love for us. Many humans say they don't believe in God, but they may still sense that the world cannot long endure without love. And what we need is not the "falling-in-love" sort of feeling. What we need is the love that chooses to be kind when it is not easy, which forgives instead of seeking revenge, which sees a mirror reflection in the eyes of a stranger, which would find some commonality in adversaries and admit its own shortcomings. This comes only by radical honesty and repeated practice.
I wish I were better at that. I do set it always as my goal: to love better. But here, on the edge of Christmas, I am grateful that love keeps coming after us. The message of Bethlehem is that in the heart of the universe is a love so breath-taking that it is beyond our understanding or deserving. But love isn't about deserving. It's more like the air we breathe, all around us. On our worst days, we still breathe it. In our darkest nights, it comes seeking us, calling us, covering us with its fierce tenderness. It's a baby in a manger, helplessly latching on to our hearts. It's a fire and a gift of gold, a wind stirring our souls, a fountain of life. It is hope. And peace. And joy. It will makes us new.
Love
So strong, so fierce,
Love
is a lion
more powerful than any
evil thing,
protector of all.
So wild, so beautiful,
Love
is the song
that fills the soul
and makes it dance.
So tender, so helpless,
Love
is a baby
whose little hands reach out
to be held
in your heart.
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