Centering Love

When we talk about centering love at the heart of Unitarian Universalism, it can sound facile or anti-intellectual. And yet for so many in our world, who have never experienced love, who were not raised in places where the security did not exist for love to be offered on a consistent basis, or those suddenly bereft of the ties they thought would be there for their lifetime, this is an important practice. And in these times when hate is so prevalent, the need to center love is real and alive.

The spiritual discipline of thinking about how we continue to offer an ethic of love—rather than of disdain or contempt or advice-giving—is a true discipline of our time. To be able to love people, even when we see the underside of human behavior is redemptive. For too many people, love is not a given and that I believe is one of the things that is leading to the divisions and hatred in our world.

As we begin this congregational year together, centering love is not just a pretty notion. We can think of it as an abiding and difficult commitment that will require choices and conscious action.  A commitment to center love will require that we use that we remember our ideals, and what we want to be at times when our own self-interest may seem to be located somewhere outside of that circle.

Thinking about what it means to center love has caused me to take a step back, a fuller breath, and to ground myself in presence. And how exciting that we have this opportunity to test the strength and the limits, the persistence and the  tenacity of love.