Love to the loveless shown

There will be no reflection tomorrow. The next reflection will be on Thursday January 21

The last of the 12 signs of a spiritual awakening is that we gain the ability to love with expecting anything in return. (The list of 12 signs is at the end of this reflection).

Here’s a favorite line from the hymn “My Song is Love Unknown:”

 Love to the loveless shown that they might lovely be.

God’s love for you and for me is so great that at the lowest point in our lives, at the moment when we have found ourselves to be the most despicable, in a time of bitter and tragic failure when weakness and sin had all but annihilated us or when we have done inestimable harm to others—at precisely that moment, the God Who is Love, through his suffering and death, reached down to us from the cross and lifted us up with Himself out of the mire. And that began a beautiful journey, and good things began happening in our lives, and our attention was turned from our former misery to a promise of a brighter future. And God continued to work in our lives, despite times when we wanted to turn back or tried to resist what was taking place within us. And God continues to work in the lives of even those who do not know him or who think he doesn’t exist.

That is the God who is love. And we are created in the image and likeness of that God. And we too get to show love—in less spectacular ways, to be sure—to others who may not know much love in their lives, or to others who do not feel especially “lovely” at any moment in their lives.

And you are already doing that. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t have been reading these reflections, because they wouldn’t have interested you.

You, who were made lovely by the love of God for you when you were loveless, have opportunities to love others—sometimes from a distance, sometimes in small, barely noticeable acts of charity “behind the scenes.” And when you do things like this that have no mixed motive attached to them, you find that you are doing them simply for the joy of being loving and charitable, and, in fact, the more anonymous your gift of love is, the more sheer joy you take from the experience.

You already know this. And so keep up the good work. Take the love you have been given and be love for others. Because, in your awakening, you discover a sublime joy, and you want that joy to be more and more a part of your life.

Be loved as you are. Be loving as you can be. And God bless you.

12 Signs that you are undergoing a spiritual awakening

1. An increased tendency to let things happen rather than to make things happen.

2. Frequent attacks of smiling.

3. Feelings of being connected with others and nature.

4. Frequent overwhelming episodes of appreciation.

5. A tendency to think and act spontaneously rather than from fears based on past experiences.

6. An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment.

7. A loss of ability to worry.

8. A loss of interest in conflict.

9. A loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others.

10. A loss of interest in judging others.

11. A loss of interest in judging self.

12. Gaining the ability to love without expecting anything in return.