16 Dec 2009
Advent Devotional
Luke 6:32-36
Often we speak about love as if it were a feeling. But if we wait for a feeling of love before loving, we may never learn to love well. The feeling of love is beautiful and life-giving, but our loving cannot be based on that feeling. To love is to think, speak, and act according to the spiritual knowledge that we are infinitely loved by God and called to make that love visible in this world.
“Mostly we know what the loving thing to do is. When we “do” love, even if others are not able to respond with love, we will discover that our feelings catch up with our acts.”
Henri Nouwen
PRAYER: Oh God as we come to prayer, enable us to rest in your loving embrace before we ask or tell you anything. In our anxiety or in our joy, we are so eager to tell and ask. And we don’t know how to quiet our brains from the thoughts that will not hush. Even as we know that about ourselves, we also know that our very longing to connect with you is pleasing to you. May we never despair as we seek your love and grace. Amen.
Mary Alice Kemp