You are a love song
Beauty set to music
You are a love song
I have chosen you.
~Theresa Hucal
What would it be like if we believed that we truly were God’s love song? How would it change us and our engagement of the people, events, and world around us?
We talk a lot in church about love; God’s love, our belovedness as God’s children, our call and commandment to love one another.... Our scriptural heritage, too, spends a lot of time reflecting on love in one form oranother—and for good reason. Mature spirituality is predicated on our capacity to perceive, receive, and offer love; and trusting our own intrinsic lovability is extraordinarily challenging for most of us. It’s a conundrum!
I was honored to lead a day of retreat for the St. Martin de Porres faculty and staff last week as they prepared for the academic year ahead. As I prepared my thoughts for the day, I re-encountered an old beloved spiritual resource: Joyce Rupp’s The Cup of Our Life. She suggests a daily practice of finding a cup—any cup will do; try your morning tea/coffee/kombucha cup—and, holding that cup in your hands, she invites us to give this simple spiritual practice a try:
Notice [the cup’s] style, shape, color, size. Be conscious of yourself as a cup held in God’s hands.
Accept your uniqueness and your goodness. Thank God for creating you as you are.
“Ask God to help you to see yourself as a song of love, a cup full of goodness, bringing life to others.” And reflect on the words of the Prophet Isaiah:
I have called you by name, You are mine... You are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you. (Isa 43:1-4)
As fall schedules come into full swing this month, the increasing pace can feel overwhelming. There is so much in the world over which we have no control, we can begin to fall prey to the stressors and challenges that come with our contemporary lives in this moment in history. When you feel yourself snapping back when you might have responded instead with patience, or bowing under when you wish you might hold forth more steadily, consider God’s invitation to remember your true identity: Love. Try grabbing yourself a cup, and gazing into it, and seeing your own soul: precious, beautiful, loved, enough. Drink it in! You are a love song. God has chosen you. I hope it helps. If you give it a try, I’d love to know.
Love & Blessings on the Journey! Heather