Lectio
“I only want you to be warned that, if you would progress a long way on this road and ascend to the Mansions of your desire, the important thing is not to think much, but to love much; do, then, whatever most arouses you to love.”
— Teresa of Avila, The Interior Castle
Meditatio
You were made by Love and for Love, and Love has never stopped pouring itself into you. Your cup runs over. Follow that outpouring of love where it leads you. For love always leads to love, which comes from Love and draws us back to Love.
Let go of your short-sighted and self-serving desires. They lead only to fleeting pleasure and enduring disappointment. Allow the desire of your heart, giving itself to God and neighbor, to guide you. Move no faster — or slower — than the Spirit drawing you out of yourself in love and into Love.
Your heart’s innermost longing is for Love alone — for God alone — but your appetites will distract and deceive you. They will shout at you and pull your attention away from Love, not because they are inherently evil, but because they are finite, and so draw you only to that which is finite. For love is never imposed, but that which is not love will constantly impose itself upon you.
And so you must be diligent and humble, turning to God at all times and for all things, making Love your only aim — both your compass and your destination. That this resonates with you at all is itself a sign of how far love has already drawn you, but a long way is never all the way — not in this life.
Listen to the whisper of love, feel within the depths of your heart where love arouses you to worship and service, and do not think much about why or how, but love much because Love invites you to do so. Love will never lead you astray — because love always leads back to Love.
Oratio
love and do not stop loving
pray and do not stop praying
for this you were made
for this you must live
for this you will die
from Love
through Love
to Love
for Love
Contemplatio
Where do you sense love arousing you to worship or service — and what is keeping you from following it there?
Related Scripture
“O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” — Psalm 63:1 (NRSVCE)
For Further Reading
If you enjoyed this post, you may also like The Wounds of Resurrection: Apertures of Love, which explores what love truly costs us — and how the wounds of the risen Christ reveal love not as sentiment but as the very aperture through which God’s life pours into the world.
Robert Van Valkenburgh
Grappling With Divinity.
Wrestling With God.
Returning To Love.
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