Love never ends
I Corinthians 13:8
When we lose something we have cherished it can feel like our life has come to an end. It may feel like joy has just stopped flowing. Perhaps a person has moved out of our life, or a loved one has died. Perhaps we have lost a job or retired. Maybe we have “lost” our health or our mobility. We are emotional beings and of course we grieve the change in our connections to people and situations. We likely feel sad, afraid, empty, or even angry. This is part of the human experience and to be respected. We get to feel. Feeling our feelings is a part of the process of becoming more connected to our divinity. As we feel, we are cherishing our whole experience of living. We are keeping current in the moving flow of life. When we don’t allow ourselves to feel, we can get stuck in bitterness, negativity, or even hate.
As we take our emotions, our grief, to our Christ within we find transformation. We are putting our human experience of loss in touch with the eternal truth of divine love. The joy and energy that seemed to be stopped begins to flow again. We have new realizations of the gifts our loved ones or former experiences brought into our lives. We find that we have been blessed beyond what we knew. We don’t ever “get over” a loss, nor should we necessarily. Rather we discover that every loss is a doorway to greater love, greater wisdom, and deeper richness. It’s, yes, the end of one experience and, yes, the beginning of a new way of understanding ourselves and life. We build on the fullness of what was and bring it to what is– new circumstances, new connections, new expressions.
As you enter 2020 take a moment to cherish all in your life that has brought you to this new year. Open your heart to God’s full outpouring of love, and let that love heal, soothe, and fill any places of grief. Let the Christ love within you expand and glow. You are the love that never ends. You are God’s expression. As we celebrate Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday this Monday, we are reminded of how very important it is to love fully and well. The world needs us – there is work to be done!
In the Love and Light of the Christ,
Rev. Anna
