Loving More

This week I have been reading a book called The Mastery of Love.
I've had the book for a few years and this week God said it was time
to read it. He are some ideas that have been helping me to see love differently.

"We can talk about love and write a thousand books about it, but love
will be completely different for each one of us because we have to
experience love. Love is not about concepts; love is about action.
Love in action can only produce happiness. Fear in action can only
produce suffering. The only way to master love is to practice love."

"Love has no resistance, no expectations. In fear, we blame others
for not meeting our expectations." So, fear lived out is a recipe for
disappointment and inharmony.

Is it tempting to feel like you don't have enough love to go around because something has you down? That's how I felt yesterday. Something big hadn't worked out the way I thought it should. This morning I opened Mastery of Love I read "Self-pity is disrespect." Self-pity is: I'm not good enough, not bright enough not strong enough, not intelligent enough, not enlightened enough, not loving enough. "Happiness never comes from outside us. You are happy because of the love coming out of you."

So, no one else makes you/me happy or sad. Happiness is the result of Your [God's] love. Well, I realized that I didn't have to put up with self-pity and I was free to love, well freely.

Hot Run

As I was heading out for a run on a hot, hot day a neighbor said I should be safe and abandon the idea. In St. Louis, it's not only hot but humid. But, I had confidence that I could manage the situation. I realized when I was 2/3rds of the way through the run, I realized a few things. First, I hadn't committed to leaning on God, I had decided that I had intelligence to "manage" the situation. It turned out I didn't really. I ran too fast. Second, even when I realized I was running too fast, I didn't slow down enough. I realized I needed to listen to God. As I ran, I listened to ideas from an audio program from spirituality.com about solving world hunger. This audio chat was feeding me with spiritual ideas and these ideas were feeding me and sustaining me. I was pondering how all things are possible to God. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus told his disciples, "With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible." American theologian Mary Baker Eddy wrote, "The prayer that reforms the sinner and heals the sick is an absolute faith that all things are possible to God, — a spiritual understanding of Him, an unselfed love."

As I was running in the heat, I came across some large earthworms who were stretched on the sidewalk. They had expired from the heat. Because I was praying for myself and out of care for the innocent worms, I didn't feel I could accept the picture of death before me. I turned my heart to God, who is divine Life. I heard a message - life is springing up. A step later I came upon a very large worm who was writhing on the ground. (He was really large - about 9 inches long.) I picked him up to get him into a flower bed out of the heat. This worm who had been out in the sun was quite warm to the touch. To the touch, he was hot, maybe between 110-120F. It seems I was there at the right time to help the worm. I imagine that we both are grateful that prayer is not theoretical, it is practical. At times it heals us. At times it leads us to solutions.