There is Power in Love to Show Us the Way to Live
We know that if we are sick with a cold or the flu that what we have may be contagious. I have used this as a metaphor before when I have written about how we can also be contagious concerning our moods and energy, spreading them to those around us. I think most of us would agree that negative moods and critical energy are contagious, sometimes infecting a whole family, group, or organization. The good news though is that joy, along with the enthusiasm of love are also contagious, and likewise, we can feel it when love and joy have infected those around us.
I don't know about you, but I don't need more reminders that negative news is contagious, as I am bombarded with evidence of this every day. What I do need are reminders that love and joy are also infectious. And that is precisely what I received this past week when someone shared with me some of the highlights of the royal wedding.
While the ceremony, including the readings and the music, (Did you see that performance of Stand By Me?!) were beautiful, it was the sermon from Bishop Michael Curry that lit a fire in my spirit. In case you missed it, here are a few excerpts from this sermon:
There is something right about it (love). And there's a reason for it. The reason has to do with the source. We were made by a power of love, and our lives were meant - and are meant - to be lived in that love. That's why we are here.
There's power in love to help and heal when nothing else can. There's power in love to lift up and liberate when nothing else will. There's power in love to show us the way to live.
Think and imagine a world where love is the way.
Imagine our homes and families where love is the way. Imagine neighborhoods and communities where love is the way.
Imagine governments and nations where love is the way. Imagine business and commerce where this love is the way.
Imagine this tired old world where love is the way. When love is the way - unselfish, sacrificial, redemptive.
When love is the way, there's plenty good room - plenty good room - for all of God's children.
When love is the way, we know that God is the source of us all, and we are brothers and sisters, children of God.
As powerful as these words are, it is the spirit with which he delivered and embodied these words-a spirit of love and joy-that the world has found to be so highly contagious. Some two billion people watched the sermon while viewing the wedding ceremony, and since then there have been millions of views of it on social media. If you are one of the few people who hasn't heard it yet, you can experience it here.
Even if you have already watched the sermon, you might want to watch again next time you need a little infusion of love and joy. And then, having been influenced by that spirit of love, go and find a way to spread some of it in your corner of the world.
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