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The Gift of Love
The collect* for this Sunday is achingly beautiful. I must admit that some weeks, I internally shrug my shoulders a little at the appointed collect because I don't necessarily connect with it, but this week is something completely different. It reads (in part), "O Lord, you have taught us that without love, whatever we do is worth nothing: Send your Holy Spirit and pour into our hearts your greatest gift, which is love, the true bond of peace..."
It is not lost on me that other languages have multiple words and meanings for "love." For example, the Greek language has eight! Last week was the holiday of love, known as Valentine's Day. In popular culture, it has been made out to be a holiday focused on romantic love. However, this is not the type of love to which the collect refers. It is a more universal love.
The gifts discernment work some of us have been doing together is based on the understanding that our gifts are God-given, and it is through the movement of the Holy Spirit that they are made known to us. The idea of the Holy Spirit "pouring" love into our hearts is powerful. It is not a trickle or a measured amount offered but a generous pouring.
When our lives (or our families... or the world... or...) feel uncertain, closing the tap just a little can be tempting because it can feel harder or more vulnerable to love fully.
Resist that temptation.
Now is the time to love as fully as we can. If we trust the words of the collect, it will be the road to finding real peace in all the places we find ourselves.
Here is the invitation: Stay open and love with the fullest expression you can muster. Let your love splash out over the edges because love is messy. It will not only change you, it will change the world.
Faithfully,
Emily +
The Rev. Emily E. Given
