The Way of Love - December 17, 2018

God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 3:16

Copyright 212 west: the spoken life

During the season of Advent, our Presiding Bishop Michael Curry has invited us to reflect on the way of love. For many of us, there are numerous paths to love. Some have found love through the sacred acts of prayer, blessings, learning, and worship while others discovered love through the movements of turning, going, and rest. Collectively, these expressions of love or the various ways to love have a purpose. In Luke 10:27, Our Lord Jesus Christ reminds us of the purpose of our love. The purpose or the object of Christian love allows us to, “ Love the Lord our God with all our hearts and with all our souls and with all our strength and with all our minds '; and to 'Love our neighbor as Ourselves.” Love, according to Christ, embodies an inclusive communal experience between the Divine and humanity. In loving God with our very being: hearts, minds, souls and strength, we become conduits of the divine character of God. As written by the evangelist in John 4:7-21, “God is love” and those who love God and their neighbors translate the divine will of God.

We, despite the harsh realities of human experiences, are beautifully and wonderfully made in the image of God through His love and grace to be beacons of love as revealed in the Gospels and through the Scriptures. As we celebrate the coming and birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ, lets us remember to share our love with God and with our neighbors. Since the Creation of the world, God has shared His Love with humanity. Do you remember? It occurred through the breath of life and it was reaffirmed through the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In the words of A.J. Russell, I proclaim that “I am Love because God is Love,” because I am made in the image of God and I am willing to testify of my Love.

Oh, what a blessing and joy to receive and give love.

Post by Shancia Jarrett

The Best Way

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“This is what the Lord God showed me” (Amos 7:1)

This line begins today’s Old Testament lesson from Amos, a line that is repeated in the section for today three times, as God shows Amos three different visions.

Prophets are seers, people who see things that others cannot. They can see big, cosmic events and they can see small, mundane things. They are the voices that call out to us about all the things we have forgotten. We have forgotten who we are. We have forgotten who we serve. We have forgotten where we are going. We have forgotten why we are doing what we are doing.

Prophets are uncomfortable people. Just think of our favorite Advent prophet, John the Baptist, with his strange clothes, strange diet, and his position out in the desert. Where was he pointing to? What vision did he, like Amos, receive from God?

Jerome Berryman in the Godly Play story about the Prophets explains them this way:

“There are… people who come so close to God, and God comes so close to them, that they know what God wants them to say and do. These people are called Prophets. They know the best way.”*

Prophets see the world, at least temporarily, through God’s eyes. They see where we got lost on the road. They see the burdens that slow us down, or make us want to stop. They see the path ahead and point us along the way.

We don’t always accept their wisdom. Often we don’t realize we are lost, and we reject them. They are, after all, uncomfortable people.

But God is close to them, and they are close to God. They know the way, and if we listen, prophets can point us toward a place of renewal, a place of clean hearts and clear steps forward on God’s path.

Post by Carrie Combs

*Berryman, Jerome. The Complete Guide to Godly Play volume 2. New York: Church Publishing, Inc., 2017.