The Way Of Love

“Love seeks one thing only: the good of the one loved. It leaves all the other secondary effects to take care of themselves. Love, therefore, is its own reward.” Thomas Merton

I read this quote often as it is placed in a prominent spot in our home. It's been there for a while but every now and again I don't just see it but I really see it with fresh eyes. Lately, with all of the political turmoil swirling about, it feels like Merton's words are resonating loudly in my heart and soul, reminding me to stay focused on what is true and right and lovely. Lovely. That seems like a rather inappropriate word to describe the country that we find ourselves in if you're located in the USA. There are those who say that to choose to focus on what's lovely means you're not really taking time to see the wrong and the desperate needs around us and even at a higher level the grotesque operations of government. The truth is we have to focus on both because if we're honest, finding what's lovely is a call to find hope and joy and wellness despite what is wrong and ugly and needy. 

At the beginning of this new year, we want to see change for the better in our countrymen but also we know that change has to start with each of us as individuals. How will I see my neighbors with a healthy mindset if I choose to judge them by their political standing? If that's all I see when I look at them, what good am I as a contributing citizen? Each of us chooses how we will interact with the world and it has become more and more difficult to do so with love. But if I place the importance of love at the forefront of my vision like putting on spectacles that filter out judgement and anger and backbiting, etc... then I can function with clearer vision and can act and react in ways that have the promise of being productive and lifegiving rather than something I'll regret. I am tempted to feel hopeless about where we're headed as a country but then I recall Love and it reminds me that there is much good in the world and brotherly love is not dead. 

 "Untitled" Encaustic Painting 8"x8" on wood panel found here. 

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