L-O-V-E

Have you been spending more time these days with the people that you love the most? Are you being loved well?  That's what is on my mind tonight as I reflect on the number of people who continue to check-in with me, wondering if I am ok, fully knowing that this quarantine might kill off people that are single-extroverts! Thank you for loving me well.  Spending time alone is not something I am very good at, and I generally lead such a busy life that I don't have much time to think about it.  So, this new rhythm is challenging me; even my cats are all goofy today because I've been around way too much the past week.  

Loving people is something that comes quite easily for me, which is a great help in ministry most of the time.  It is usually easy for me to see the Image of God in other people, and the best part of pastoral ministry is when people realize their gifts and put them into use.  Of course, there are those few people that are challenging to love, and yet, often these are the ones who usually teach us the most about ourselves, and about God.  It's always a little frustrating to realize that what bugs you the most about another person might be the thing that challenges you most about yourself.  

Jesus challenged folks to love.  He didn't get caught up in the rules at the expense of reaching out and touching the people who needed it most.  He saw those who were hurting through the lens of compassion and always did what he could to restore folks dignity and health.  Jesus loved well.  

Near the end of the Bible we find the epistle of 1 John, and the fourth chapter has much to say about love.  Here are a couple of great verses: 

Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

1 John 4:11-12:  

It may seem really simple, but in my heart it is really profound that it is in sharing loving-kindness that we recognize the depth of God's love for each of us.  Humans don't always love each other well, but I have noticed these last few days a growing spirit of kindred love.  As Maya Angelou said in the quote above, when we love people well their lives are changed for the good.

So, who is loving you well?  Where might you need some adjustment in sharing loving kindness these days?  Let's keep reaching out to one another, checking in, encouraging, and loving.  

My prayer for us tonight is also pretty simple:  God, help us to love one another as you love us.  Help us to give love and receive it, knowing that at the source of our very being is your love for us.  Amen.  

You are loved....lots.

Pastor Devon