The Way of Love

"And now faith, hope and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love." (I Cor. 13:13)

We are talking a lot in The Episcopal Church about The Way of Love. I commend the hyperlink to you.

Love is a complicated word, and often heard in sentimental ways. But the Way of Love, as our Presiding Bishop likes to say, is the only way to counter the fear and hatred of our world. And if it's not about love, it's not about God! We do well to remember that God first loved us: our whole calling as God's people can be summed up in the way we respond, by loving God back and by loving our neighbor as self.

My own bishop (who is also my boss) organized this year's address to our Diocesan Convention around this Way of Love. I commend it to you, here.

Those two links are by way of introduction. The Way of Love is about cultivating seven practices: turn, learn, pray, worship, bless, go, and rest. It seems to me like a decent "series" for this blog. As always, this blog is about my own need/desire to "think out loud" and it is helpful to have some folks "listening in" with me. There is nothing really new here; these are ancient practices, rooted in the faith of the Church. But sometimes when religious people say that "love is the answer" it sounds hollow. It sounds like it has nothing to do with the realpolitik of the dangerous and frightening "real" world.

We tend to underestimate the power of love as (really, seriously, truly) stronger than the love of power. So we enter into the fray to gain the world, but risk losing our souls in the process. 

We do well to remember that Jesus was born during the reign of Caesar Augustus; that he lived in the shadow of Roman Imperial Power. And yet his message was consistent: Love God and love your neighbor. Do these things and you will live. I still believe that he was and is right. In fact I'm willing to stake my life on it.

I can't promise to write every day, but I will take these practices in the order they are found above and try to say something helpful - hopefully something that prods the hearer of the word to become a doer of the word.

Next post: TURN.