This week: Advent Love Edited by: SophyBells  
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Hi, I'm SophyBells ~ your editor for this edition of the Spiritual Newsletter.
The Rev. Scotty McLennan, author of the book Finding Your Religion, compares humanity's innate need for spiritual searching to climbing a mountaain. In his view, we are all endeavoring to climb the same figurative mountain in our search for the divine, we just may take different ways to get there. In other words, there is one "God," but many paths. I honor whatever path or paths you have chosen to climb that mountain in your quest for the Sacred.  |
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During the season of Advent, Christians traditionally light a candle on an Advent Wreath each Sunday during worship. The candle for the first Sunday represents Hope, the second Sunday is Peace, the third is Joy, and the fourth represents Love.
As I ponder hope, peace, joy, and love during these increasingly darker days of December, I need to keep reminding myself that they do exist in our world. Power, greed, and cynicism play such a high profile role so much of the time that it’s easy to wonder if hope, peace, joy, or love have anything at all to do with the state of the world these days.
For this newsletter, I'll focus on love. We use the word to refer to a variety of experiences, including affection, romance, kindness, devotion and appreciation. But those definitions fall short for me when I think of love in a spiritual connotation. What if, for the sake of this conversation, we think of love simply as an intention for the well-being of another?
I like that description because it encompasses so much. We don’t necessarily have to “fall in love” with someone to keep their well-being in mind as we make decisions about how we’ll conduct ourselves in the world. For that matter, we don’t necessarily even have to like someone. Certainly it’s easier and more rewarding to take care of friends and family and lovers, but it is possible to maintain a reasonable consideration for the welfare of someone else even if we don’t happen to like that person or agree with their views. Maybe not always easy, but certainly possible - and necessary for our survival.
The divisiveness in the US, and around the world, divide into camps of "us" vs. "them" - and make it easy not to care about "them." For instance, there is a huge divide regarding COVID-19, between those who believe in the science of vaccines and safety protocols (masks, social distancing) designed to keep people healthy, and those who do not believe in them. As a result, so much vitriol is thrown around, including people wishing other people ill, that it's seeming more and more as if we've lost our humanity altogether. Vaccinated people wish evil upon unvaccinated, and visa versa. It's so ugly, it's heartbreaking. And there is no sign of love anywhere.
But what if we understood that love is meant to be a cultivated intention for the well-being of others in general - everyone, not just those we agree with or like. The more advanced we become in practicing love as a spiritual discipline, the wider our circle of concern, so that eventually the well-being of all others is a core value. That may sound like a tall order, but there are people who work very hard on developing this kind of love as an overall orientation to the world - and we would do well to follow their example, for all of our sakes.
What has helped me most in this endeavor is to think of love as a practice rather than a personality disposition. It has to be developed, refined and even struggled for with the same dedication that a champion athlete pursues her sport or a musician prepares for his concert. I’ve also come to believe that love is the only force with the potential to effect the kind of peace the world needs. No economic theory, no political leader, no military power on its own will ever bring about the justice and security that is perennially in such short supply in this world. Only love can do that.
One of the first religious teachings I remember learning as a child is that God is love. That phrase is deceptively simple, but we can get a clue from that teaching of Jesus recorded in the Gospel of Matthew. “Love your enemies,” said Jesus, “and pray for those who persecute you… for if you love those who love you, and if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Be compassionate, therefore, as God is compassionate.”
The translation of that last phrase is key. The traditional translation reads, “Be perfect as God is perfect.” But modern scholarship suggests that the word compassion comes much closer to the meaning of the original Aramaic. It makes much more sense to me to experience my relationship with God in terms of compassion than in terms of perfection.
In my humble efforts to put love at the center of my life, it helps me to think that the Sacred Mystery (God) is, in essence, love itself; that the wisdom of God begins with a predisposition for our well-being, and that we are called to cultivate that same predisposition in our own hearts toward others.
Realistically I don’t know how likely it is that the human epoch will have a happy ending on the planet. We’re capable of inspiring visions and terrifying nightmares and I just don’t have a strong sense of which way things will end up for us. I’m not as optimistic as I once was, and who knows – maybe that’s for the better. But I choose not to abandon hope. I choose to continue striving for kindness and honesty and education. I choose to practice compassion.
The more I consider the season of Advent as it comes around each year, the better I understand the hope, peace, joy, and love it’s meant to instill. At least one thing we can take away from the very realistic and repetitive nature of the season is importance of continuing to try to make the world a better place, even when the prospects for humanity seem dim.
How can we learn to share the love of this season all year 'round?
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The priest of an old Irish town will encounter opposition that will make him regret.
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Now for some comments about my last newsletter "Spiritual Newsletter (November 10, 2021)" : about "A Change of Plans:"
From Mia - craving colour
Hi Sophy,
Thank you for sharing the Change of Plans that you and Mr. Sophy are dealing with. Hearing of the challenges and how you are facing them in this pandemic feels so normalizing. I love the spirit with which you and Mr. Sophy embrace the changes, do the best you can within the situation, and continue to count your blessings. It’s a great reminder of the most fulfilling way forward. Mia
Thanks Mia - it's not always easy, that's for sure. But we are doing our best.
       
From Mary Ann MCPhedran 
Hi Sophy I can share your feelings in your travel plans, for I was ready to book my holiday to Cyprus to spend three months at my daughter's home and had to change because of Covid outbreak and have't seen her since 2019.
So sorry to hear this - hope you can see her soon. 
Please keep your comments and suggestions coming - and Happy Holidays!  SophyBells |
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Spiritual: December 08, 2021 Issue [#11112]
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