yesterday morning before heading out into the frigid cold i read 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 which is as follows:
"If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God's word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, 'jump', and it jumps, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love."
my reading of the passage only briefly went beyond the words on the page and then i ventured outdoors. one of my stops was at borders to read for a bit. as i continued reading All About Love by Bell Hooks i got to chapter 6 where that she quotes this passage and talks about it's relevance and importance. and that's when i sat up and listened. God was obviously trying to get my attention. He's good.
recently i've been wrestling through what it looks like to serve others, especially this year. there are all these voices saying i should do this or i need to do that. if my actions don't come from a heart of love then they're totally irrelevant. my heart is not to do things just to do them. i hope to cultivate in my heart a life of love so that every action and word is drenched with the love that i have so freely received. i never want to serve someone out of guilt or compulsion but out of a love that is so deeply ingrained in my soul that i won't consciously know i'm "serving". i'm just loving.
now the question is how to do that.
in other news, Bell Hooks said, "A commitment to a spiritual life requires us to do more than read a good book or go on a retreat. It requires conscious practice, a willingness to unite the way we think with the way we act."
true that Bell. true that.
"If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God's word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, 'jump', and it jumps, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love."
my reading of the passage only briefly went beyond the words on the page and then i ventured outdoors. one of my stops was at borders to read for a bit. as i continued reading All About Love by Bell Hooks i got to chapter 6 where that she quotes this passage and talks about it's relevance and importance. and that's when i sat up and listened. God was obviously trying to get my attention. He's good.
recently i've been wrestling through what it looks like to serve others, especially this year. there are all these voices saying i should do this or i need to do that. if my actions don't come from a heart of love then they're totally irrelevant. my heart is not to do things just to do them. i hope to cultivate in my heart a life of love so that every action and word is drenched with the love that i have so freely received. i never want to serve someone out of guilt or compulsion but out of a love that is so deeply ingrained in my soul that i won't consciously know i'm "serving". i'm just loving.
now the question is how to do that.
in other news, Bell Hooks said, "A commitment to a spiritual life requires us to do more than read a good book or go on a retreat. It requires conscious practice, a willingness to unite the way we think with the way we act."
true that Bell. true that.
also, i miss my tour guide. 19 days and we shall be reunited.
2 comments:
Hi pretty girl, thanks for being my friend.
patrick, thanks for going to the park with me the other day. and i always love going to target with you. thanks for being my traveling companion.
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