As characterized in the Gospels, we have two great commandments that speak of how we are to love, Matthew 22:37-39 and John 13:34-35:
Matthew 22:37-39 “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”
John 13:34-35 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
But what does love look like?
James K.A. Smith warns us that “We Are What We Love” and if we follow our habits, we will discover our loves. It may be sobering when we see how much time we spend on our phones or in shopping malls, looking for more things to buy or more knowledge to gain. Is that really what we love? True love is manifested when we are willing to be inconvenienced by it.
Kahlil Gibran in The Prophet says:
Then said a rich man, “Speak to us of Giving.”
And he answered:
You give but little when you give of your possessions.
It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.
For what are your possessions but things you keep and guard for fear you may need them tomorrow?
And tomorrow, what shall tomorrow bring to the overprudent dog burying bones in the trackless sand as he follows the pilgrims to the holy city?
And what is fear of need but need itself?
Is not dread of thirst when your well is full, thirst that is unquenchable?
Blessings, my friend,
Agatha