Advent 3 ~ Love

 

Yesterday I offered you a prayer practice that, for me, embodies and embraces the second stanza of the Carol for this week.  Remember those words from Monday:

 

Though I am small, my God, my all, You work great things in me,
and Your mercy will last from the depths of the past to the end of the age to be.
Your very name puts the proud to shame, and to those who would for You yearn,
You will show Your might, put the strong to flight, for the world is about to turn.

 

I hear in these words echo of the ancient Hebrew hymnal, Psalm 8:4, “What are humans that You are mindful of them, mortals that You care for them?”  I don’t believe the Psalmist was playing small or putting on false humility here.  I think this question is essentially, “God, are You sure, really sure, that I can do this?”  That question comes to my heart often around the church, on Sunday mornings, in meetings, parenting, in husbanding (not sure that is really a verb, but I am going for it), and in friending (again, creative English here).  At the heart of life, I am not sure we trust the truth of powerful, vulnerable love.  Or as G.K. Chesterton wrote, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried.”  We will circle back to this truth in January and February when we study the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus tells us to love…our enemies…and we think, “Um really?”  I also know that for God to reside in me, my pride or ego needs to get out of the way.  I know for God to be God; I am called to lean in and listen to the Holy here and now. 

 

How might you and I practice love in these dwindling December days?  Can we commit to being love to those we named yesterday?  Can we receive love from family and friends and fellow church members as the gift our heart longs deepest for this season?  Can we offer love, knowing that it may not be accepted or even make a difference to someone?  Are we willing to try…even when things go off the rails and don’t work out, because God can take our fumbles and false starts to weave a beautiful fabric from our flaws?  Can you and I clear room for God to receive a love that will not let us go now for the year to come?  May these questions stir our souls and guide our lives this day.  Amen.