“Do you love me?” I asked upon looking into the mirror in my youth. “Respect who you are.” “Do you love me?” they asked as I sought to join them. “Stand with us in our time of need.” “Do you love me?” he asked as we journeyed into marriage. “Be with me, for better, for worse, in sickness and in health.” “Do you love me?” my children asked as they brought me hurt upon hurt. “Heal my wounds.” “Do you love me” Jesus asks Peter and every disciple as we embark upon his Way. “Tend my lambs.”
Love beyond infatuation grabs hold of our conscience. Will we do what is right? Will we be steadfast and will our promise be true? Love beyond romance touches the core of our being. Safety is no longer our concern, if it ever was. We are drawn in by the invitation of love, moved by the power of love, inspired by the seeker of love. There arises within us a strength to do that which must be done; to do that which is good, that which is kind – that which others do not want us to do because it is a challenge to the old way. We face the challenge, perhaps even the threat. We must – for the wounds inflicted by those who oppose us, though they may prove lethal, are naught compared with the wounds we would feel in our very soul if we did not risk love amidst challenge. And so, person after person, year after year, we stretch out our hands, we hold out our hearts, we extend forth our souls. We take the risk to be received by others who have stretched out their hands, their hearts, their souls. We as well take the risk knowing that perhaps no hands, or hearts, or souls will be there to receive us.
“Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted, but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone will lead you where you do not want to go.”
Prayer: Spirit of Love, we live in the grace of risk taking.
Question: What is the love amidst challenge being asked of me?
April 10, 2016 Gospel John 21:1-19 Third Sunday of Easter