August 5, 2011
I am entering my second month of Sabbatical and getting use to having time on my hands. Last week I started walking and made a goal to walk at least three times a week. This week I am aiming for four times a week. Exercise is good for your body and your soul.
Saturday I have two weddings to officiate. I always enjoy weddings and standing with the couple on their important day. I have been reflecting on what love is and what love is not as I have the time to look within at my own journey.
I follow the teachings of M. Scott Peck, author of The Road Less Traveled. One of the most important things I learned from him was that love is NOT a feeling. Peck was a psychiatrist and when couples would come to his office with the complaint that they had fallen out of love and they no longer felt the same way about each other - well that was when he said the real love can begin.
That true love which we all long for and too often spend our life looking for is an illusion until we learn that love is an action, an activity. Genuine love implies that we extend oneself for the purpose of nurturing our own and our beloved one's spiritual growth. True love is an act of will that transcends those "feelings" we have when we first begin a new relationship with someone.
Too often people get addicted to those wonderful feelings we have when we first get to know another as the relationship grows. Those feelings are nice, but they don't last forever. What comes after that is deep, genuine, true love and the desire to be a part of the spiritual growth of our beloved. It is also a give and take of each other's needs and desires.
In my experience as a pastor I find that I love many, many people. It is my hope that people within my congregation know how much I love them. Often I think of myself as a mid-wife who nurtures the people of God and participates in their spiritual growth and re-birth into a transformed and renewed life.
May my heart be filled with love this day that is evidenced by my actions.
Pastor Judy
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