Practitioner’s Corner for February/March 2012
Our theme this month is: What would love do? First of all, let us understand what love is and the different types that we experience in life.
Love in its broadest sense is the feeling of strong attraction and often attachment and protection. It is felt towards other people, pets, and inanimate objects. It is felt in abstractions such as patriotism, religious matters, hobbies, etc. It is multifaceted and includes self-love, sexual love, friendly love, and family love.
Love can be expressed in many ways. God has shown love for us by offering us the emotion to share with others. In return, we love God for all the wonderful things we have been given in this life. Our devotion towards God demonstrates love in the form of reverence. This love is the same love we have for our elders, family and people we look up to.
Dr. Holmes says, “Love is the givingness of the self, the imparting of the self to people, the projection of the self into the activities of life. Without love, everything is drab and lacks meaning.” This type of love comes from a place deep inside of us. It is a genuine, incorruptible type of love that expresses out into the world. In this love, which is called “spiritual love”, there is no room for fear, sadness, hatred, or any other contracting emotions. All of us have experienced glimpses of this type of love; the secret is to experience it more often and more consistently.
One way to help this happen is when you are faced with an obstacle, a difficult situation or decision is to ask yourself, “What would love do?” Be still, pose the question to yourself and listen for the answer. Where do you feel the answer coming from in your body? With practice the answer will come from your heart, not your head.
Make this a spiritual practice for a week or two and notice any shifts in your thinking. What do you notice when you get an answer from your heart? Notice how your interactions with other people will change. Love is our essence, it is our home. Affirmation: I am immersed in Love, the highest gift of heaven and the greatest good on earth.
Our Community member this month is Kathy Smith:
When Georgiann asked me to say a few words about how I came to NVCSL, my first thought was I have been so remiss in attending services, that I really do not have the right to do this. Then it struck me that is old thinking—the old way we used to be taught to believe. There is no guilt in not coming, so here goes.
I retired from a successful job in
Although I could not enter the sanctuary without crying, the words “There is enough love in this room for everyone”, echoed in my ears and I found a peace and love that I had not felt in a long time. I was met by a group of women (the refreshment committee at that time) who opened their hearts and arms to me and swept me up and away I went. I met people who prayed with me, cried with me, sat with me and rubbed my feet after I hurt my back. The good things go on and on. I attended the Foundations class twice and made lasting friendships in those classes. Up until my accident, I was very active on the refreshment committee, etc.
Thank-you Reverend Janet and everyone at the
The sadness for me is that many of these people are gone and (sometimes) I feel like a stranger in my own church, but I know that too is a part of my journey and one I gladly take.
Thank-you Kathy for sharing your journey with all of us, we are blessed to have you.
In lieu of sharing a Practitioner story this month, I would be amiss if I did not include a little piece on one of our own, who made his transition recently:
Our church lost a very special member in the last couple of weeks and that person was Larry Sullivan. Larry had been a member of our church community since 1997. He served as Treasurer and also as our photographer at numerous events through the years. I also know that he and my Dad spent many Thursday afternoons putting the Sunday programs together. He also began as a co-leader of the Wisdom Keepers group until his health began to fail him. In the last year or so, his eyesight and general health began to deteriorate rapidly.
He finally had to move out of his apartment in a retirement home, into an assisted care facility. Larry was very gregarious and always had a quick wit and a kind word for everyone he met. His generous support in all facets of the church will be greatly missed. I know that his transition was peaceful and that he is off on another grand adventure! Thank-you Larry for all your wonderful contributions, you will be missed by all of us that knew you as a kind and generous man.
So in closing for this edition of the newsletter, I leave you with a few quotes on Love:
At the touch of love, everyone becomes a poet. Plato
A loving heart is the beginning of all knowledge. Thomas Carlyle
Love conquers all. Virgil
Love is metaphysical gravity. R. Buckminster Fuller
So, until next time, remember to be kind to your neighbors, they know where you live...