Romans 12:9 says . . . Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.
It might help us, here in Cor Unum, to come to terms with the fact that most of us love and fall in love and register love in juxtaposition to how it FEELS, EFFECTS, COMFORTS, STRENGTHS, SUSTAINS, NURTURES, and CAJOLES us. Rarely do we fall in love with somehow who does not make us feel important or stronger or more comfortable or nurtured or just . . . “in love.”
Now . . . we’re here. Married. Set into a church. We’re parents. Love is what we do . . . supposedly. Can we ever remove the last vestiges of hypocrisy? Well of course we can!
We just have to make sure we start HATING.
He loves best who most hates the evils of selfishness, jealousy, indifference, laziness, and greed as he discovers them in HIMSELF. As to LOVE, if we would desire above all things to show and impart the love of God rather than spending our days in a revolving effort to feel loved, we would know peace and fulfillment at last. Peace and fulfillment and love. It is in patience, kindness, in the crucifixion of haughtiness and rudeness toward others, that we know love and experience it in deep and lasting ways. It may take awhile. It may take a lifetime.
If we will will keep heading in a L.U.C.I.E. direction, away from lethargy, unbelief, complaining, idolatry and excess, our hypocrisies will have no place to hide, and our marriages, churches, and children will prosper for it.
“Dislike” won’t be enough. To love really well, there are a few things we must hate, and it would be wise, here in the monastery of the heart, to begin today. LETHARGY – UNBELIEF – COMPLAINING – IDOLATRY – EXCESS … we hate them all. Were we to see what they’ve done to us and others, we would hate them with a perfect hatred, and we would, at last cling to what is good.
Splendid photo by Andreas Cruz!
Cor Unum Abbey 