Monday, December 13

2021 Advent Devotional: In the Midst of Changing Ways – Many Gifts, One Spirit

Week 3: The Gift of Love

Scripture: I Corinthians 13:8 – “Love never ends.”

Reflector: Jean Hodges

Love is like a precious gem of many facets which resides in our inner most self. It is not hard like a diamond because it can be broken. But love is resilient; it is like a seed that is planted in our souls as a gift that grows as it is given away. When it is nourished by receiving love, it glows with an inner light that reflects the best of our humanity. Love is also like the wind that comes and goes, a gentle breeze that fills us so we can breathe.

A pillar of our faith is built on our belief that God is love. It has taken me years of experiencing loving relationships before I finally discovered for myself that God is a reality because we are able to give and receive love. I think it is what is meant when we say that we are children of God. The gift of love makes it so. The capacity to love grows as we are loved, so we learn to love ourselves and that opens our hearts to love others. I think it is the very essence of what it means to be made in the image of God.

I was inspired in a recent worship service when Charlotte Sass, our talented new Director of Music director, sang “In Love,” her own composition about love as a gentle breeze.

In love I find my breath. The air, a sweet caress. And I can’t control it, hold it, mold it, it simply comes and goes.

And the wind, it whispers like it knows its part,

Dances through the aspen and then kisses my heart.

And off it goes again….

Let me close this meditation with a prayer and my gratitude for Charlotte’s poetry:

Prayer: Oh God, who breathes in us your love when we are born, thank you for this most precious gift. Teach us to grow our love like this, to simply blow a kiss…for free. As we are freely loved from the beginning, open our hearts to share that love in our everyday lives, as a gentle breeze that comes and goes in all our relationships. Amen.