"How we love, who we love and who loves us are at the heart of discernment."
Image courtesy pixabay.com
Today we celebrate Valentine’s Day: the customary day each year when love is the topic of much conversation and measured in worth by cards, balloons, chocolates and flowers. These are all wonderful gestures, but what about the other 364 days of the year? How do we understand that calculating love in currency never works? There is no corresponding chart that shows the irreplaceable value of a friend who waits with you for results of a medical test, a stranger who stops to help you change your tire or a neighbor who shovels your snow-covered driveway. Acts of kindness — acts of love — are worth more than a single vase of roses on a day in February.
Paul wrote about this kind of love long before it was declared a holiday. The passage deserves pondering every day. What does it mean to be a person of love and kindness in our world? What happens when love is inconvenient? What happens when loving humanity challenges us to consider how we treat each other?
Love begs our attention. It wears many disguises. It can call forth the best and the worst in each of us depending on our intent. How we love, who we love and who loves us are at the heart of discernment.
So, who or what do you love?
How are you called to be love?
How could religious life call you to be a person of love in the world?
Are you discerning religious life? Walking with someone who is? We invite you to share this link, www.fspa.org/showmeasign, and join the conversation. And, stay tuned to Show me a sign for new videos in the FSPA discernment series!
