As we come to the end of Advent, the time in which we prepare to welcome once again the birth of Jesus into our lives and into our world,
we ponder the word “love.”
I invite to pause for a few moments each day,
and ask yourself, What is love?
Where do you experience love in your life?
How do you seek to share radical love in the world around you?
Here are some of my thoughts.
Love is a word, that in English, can mean many things.
We say, “I love this cookie.”
Or “I would love to have that car.”
Or “I just love how you look in that dress.”
We also use the word love in referring to our relationships with other people.
“I love you” means something quite different, I hope, than “I love this cookie.”
And then there is being “in love,” which is a whole mix of hormones and feelings.
Jesus says, “Love your God, with all your heart, and all your soul, and all your mind and all your strength. Love your neighbour as you love yourself.”
But Jesus goes further,
“I say, Love your enemies & welcome strangers. Do good to those who are mean to you.”
This is a radical kind of love,
not a “like the cookie” kind of love,
or my hormones are raging and I’m madly “in love.”
The love lived by those who choose the Way of Jesus is not easy.
It is a way of living rather than
It is a daily choice to see beyond the exterior presentation,
to see beyond difficult behaviour,
and to choose to love anyways.
This is not about letting someone abuse you,
or supporting someone’s addictions.
This love demands nothing, expects nothing, and never judges.
This love is also accompanied by pain and grief.
Yet, it sees the best in another person, and believes that it is possible.
Nothing can end this kind of love.
Such love is rooted in knowing that God is with us, within us, beside us, always.
Such radical love comes from knowing that God loves us, just as we are, unconditionally.
We love because God first loved us.
Love.
May you discover God’s gift of love, radical and unconditional,
as you prepare yourself to welcome Christ this Christmas.
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