The Sweetness that Remains

As I slowly read through The cure for Sorrow by Jan Richardson I enter into a new section of the book called "The Sweetness that Remains."    I like these words
Sunday I preach at Gender Road Christian Church on the 21st chapter of John.  It is the final words of Jesus to Peter which are

• :Do you love me?  Feed my sheep (3 times)

• When you were young you dressed yourself and went wherever you wished, but when you get old you'll have to stretch out your hands while someone else dresses you and takes you where you don't want to go   (vulnerability)

• Follow me 

This morning I have been reading through books on love  - Thich Nhat Hanh, Anthony Demello and Dallas Willard.  Because the final words are really about living in the kingdom of love.

Some ideas from these readings:
 - Understanding is love's other name, if you don't understand you can't love.

  - Love is indiscriminate.  The sun shines on the good and the bad.A rose is fragrant to all people.

 - Love is gratuitous. It gives and asks nothing in return

 - Love is free - does not coerce or try to control.

 - Love springs from awareness - the first ingredient of love is to really see the other.

 - Love is searching for the treasure buried in this person.

 - Love is in the present. 

I was particularly struck by this: stop looking back and be enchanted by the music of now - the present moment.

Right now I have no idea where I am being led in sermon preparation, but in my own spirit I recognize that grief is - by nature - looking back.  And there is love to give and experience in this present moment.

So, I begin this day praying for grace and an awareness of the sweetness that remains in my life through the love of God and the love I experienced with Chuck. 

I will end with this "solace blessing by Jan Richardson

BLESSING THE HOUSE OF THE HEART

If you could see
how this blessing
shimmers inside you,
you would never wonder 
whether there will be
light enough, time enough, room enough for you.

If you could see
the way this blessing
has inscribed itself 
on every wall
of your heart,
writing its shining line
across every doorway,
tracing the edge
of every window
and table
and hall - 

if you could see this,
you would never question
where home is
or whether it has
a welcome for you.

This blessing wishes
to give you
a glimpse.

It will not tell you
it has been waiting.
It will not tell you
it has been keeping watch,
It would no
t want you to know
just how long
it has been holding
this quiet vigil 
for you.

It simply wants you
to see what it sees,
wants you to know
what it knows - 
how this blessing
already blazes in you,
illuminating every corner
of your broken
and beautiful heart.
Amen