From Where Love Flows
Happy Valentine's Day!
OK, that's what the culture wants me to say. In the spirit of the day, I hope you send a card or thoughtful gift or a friendly phone call to those you love. But more importantly, I hope you KNOW the greatest Lover of all time: Jesus Christ.
I gave my heart to Christ on a November afternoon in 1976. I was 16. My "finding" Jesus then just "happened" to cap off a great foundation of faith laid by my family, my Catholic education and a remarkably Spirit-led youth ministry program. When I finally "got it," (the conversion of my stubborn heart to Christ) I had already been "active" in the Church for several years. Jesus is a patient lover.
My love for Jesus, to quote the old band, Boston, is "more than a feeling." And while Valentine's Day, for many of us, is about feelings--which I do not underestimate or take for granted--truly great love has always been about more. It is about something Bigger than ourselves. It is active, and procreative. In other words, love gives birth to something beyond itself.
Over the years, my spirituality (aka my lovelife with Jesus) and active faith response to the call of this Great Lover has taken shape in many ways: living single for the Lord, living a married vocation, as well as becoming mother to three wonderful children. All of which require dedication, vision, and plain old work. Love is service, and not just a feeling. It requires my choice to remain faithful to it, even when I don't feel it.
And so, today, if you do any celebrating with your loved ones, in whatever way you choose, remember from where Love flows. Celebrate that too. And may your day with the Lord, and your loved ones, be an echo of 1 Corinthians 13.
Copyright 2006 Patricia W. Gohn
OK, that's what the culture wants me to say. In the spirit of the day, I hope you send a card or thoughtful gift or a friendly phone call to those you love. But more importantly, I hope you KNOW the greatest Lover of all time: Jesus Christ.
I gave my heart to Christ on a November afternoon in 1976. I was 16. My "finding" Jesus then just "happened" to cap off a great foundation of faith laid by my family, my Catholic education and a remarkably Spirit-led youth ministry program. When I finally "got it," (the conversion of my stubborn heart to Christ) I had already been "active" in the Church for several years. Jesus is a patient lover.
My love for Jesus, to quote the old band, Boston, is "more than a feeling." And while Valentine's Day, for many of us, is about feelings--which I do not underestimate or take for granted--truly great love has always been about more. It is about something Bigger than ourselves. It is active, and procreative. In other words, love gives birth to something beyond itself.
Over the years, my spirituality (aka my lovelife with Jesus) and active faith response to the call of this Great Lover has taken shape in many ways: living single for the Lord, living a married vocation, as well as becoming mother to three wonderful children. All of which require dedication, vision, and plain old work. Love is service, and not just a feeling. It requires my choice to remain faithful to it, even when I don't feel it.
And so, today, if you do any celebrating with your loved ones, in whatever way you choose, remember from where Love flows. Celebrate that too. And may your day with the Lord, and your loved ones, be an echo of 1 Corinthians 13.
Copyright 2006 Patricia W. Gohn
posted by Pat Gohn at
2/14/2006
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