Just because …

 

Psalms 17:8

Guard me as the apple of the eye;

hide me in the shadow of your wings,

Some of my favourite words of evening prayer

Guard me as the apple of the eye;

hide me in the shadow of your wings,

The God of the Universe

delighting in and sheltering all of creation

with a love that knows no bounds

does not exclude

is not worn down or worn out

A just because… love

lavished just because…

with no terms or conditions

or small print clauses

Let me rest and recover

in that just because… love.

Beyond what is right

 

Mark 2:23-24

One sabbath he was going through the grainfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?”

Isn’t it the truth

that there will always be those

who are more concerned with the rules

than with what makes sense in the moment

Those who police other people’s actions

with so little awareness of the impact of their own

Those who prefer order

over transformation

May God give us grace to bear with the rule bound

and the courage to risk reaching beyond

with the spirit of love

that truly makes a difference

Practising love

 

Matthew 22:37-40

Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

It often seems easier to love what we don’t know

than to love what we know

To love our neighbour and to love God

can be abstract endeavours 

that we manage with a modicum of success

-or so we imagine.

Loving ourselves?

That calls into play a whole other set of skills

-skills that may have atrophied from lack of use

Skills that are honed and developed from seeds deep within

muscle memory waiting to be revived.

Rekindling love for self takes practice 

and disciplined effort for some

Effort that shows up - in how we love God

and in how we are enabled to see in every neighbour

the image of God.

Love God, love your neighbour, love yourself.

(Liz Crumlish)

Love - the LBD of God

Colossians 3:12-14 (The Message)

So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It's your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.

That little black dress

The all-purpose go-to

for day and night

The dress-up

Or dress-down

A basic

all-purpose garment

Who knew?

God has already

catered for

the spiritual equivalent 

A staple in the wardrobe

Alongside

Compassion

Kindness

Humility

Quiet strength

Discipline

Love is our go-to

Love enables us

to be content with second place

to quietly

subversively

bring our best selves

to the work of showing Christ

at work in the world

May we never be without it.

Love is love...

(A reflection on Mardigla 2019)

John 15:12
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

A simple command

Love one another

A command lived out by many

day in, day out

Those who catch the simplicity

the compulsion

and get on with it.

The church does not have 

a monopoly on love

But love does have

a monopoly on the church

And then there are others

who take the simple

and distort it beyond recognition

fencing it around 

with conditions

and qualifications

The church does not have 

a monopoly on love

But love does have

a monopoly on the church

Christ’s church you might think

would defend the simple imperative

Instead, we are

the worst offenders

and defenders

The church does not have 

a monopoly on love

But love does have

a monopoly on the church

So why is life so full of encounters

with young and old

confessing, with tears in their eyes

I love Jesus

but I have been rejected by the church.

The church does not have 

a monopoly on love

But love does have

a monopoly on the church

How can we be better

How might we recover

the simplicity

of Christ’s command?

Not so that we look good

not so that churches grow

But so that love wins every time

The church does not have 

a monopoly on love

But love does have

a monopoly on the church