Who among us can say honestly, "I never do hurt another"? Even with sincere intents to be loving, we do hurt others - often in ways we are not knowing of. And, at times, our act of trying to love another hurts the other.

This is why we remain in the School of Loving - for we have not reached perfection in Love. This leads us to examine ourselves in our Beloved, Jesus Christ, to ask, "How may I better love?"

As we draw closer to the Light, our darkness becomes more clear in that Light. So with Love, for as we become more intimate in Love our imperfection in Loving becomes clearer.

Another blessing occurs as we draw closer to the Beloved. We gain a greater sense of our soul, our True Self, longing to be more Loving, more like Christ - for the two are the same. This is a gift, and God honors it by responding with Grace.

So, do not be deterred from Loving, regardless of how you may feel you failed in the past. Also, do not be deterred by anyone who might accuse you of not fulfilling the Love you speak of. Simply be honest where you have failed, and continue in the School of Love, drawing from the Well of Grace for inspiration.

Dizzy From This Lovemaking

Falling through your eyes I,
Like a bird in downward flight,
Plunge into the Jacob Well …

No telling what Brian will say Now…

Jesus told the Samaritan woman rightly:
Look! A fount of living water
Springing from this stomach of mine!

The Sun hides behind the moon, playing love games,
“Brian, come and find me!” How?
“Follow the tracks left of my whisper in your ear.”

Someone stepped out of your wardrobe, saying,
Hey! Look at this new suit
He gave me to wear!

I said, “I think I’ve kissed you before.”
“Yes,” you say, “but not these lips ~
They are new each time.”

I say, “Friend, what can I give you to show my Love.”
“Give me your heart,
That is All.”

Resting beside the quiet stream
Someone poured cool water in my navel
Out grew a Tree of Life with all kinds of fresh fruit
For the world to eat and live.

I am dizzy from this Lovemaking…
Where am I, anyway?
I guess I drank too much of you again…

This is becoming a very good habit…

“I always save the best wine until last,” you say.
That is why, I guess, as the night grows on
The loving becomes sweeter.

*Brian K. Wilcox, June 4, 2007

Now what is love or charity which is praised and preached so highly by divine Scripture except the love of the Good? Love is the activity of a lover and it has a definite object. There we have three things: the lover, that which is loved, and love. Love itself is only a kind of life which unites together or tries to unite two beings, the lover and the beloved. This is the case in the carnal loves of the external world; but let us leave the body and ascend to the soul where we may drink of a purer and clearer source. What does the soul love in a friend except the soul? Even here there are three: the lover, the beloved, and love.

*Augustine. "On the Trinity." In Augustine of Hippo: Selected Writings. Translated by Mary T. Clark. In The Classics of Western Spirituality. Editor-in-Chief John Farino.

In what ways are you becoming a more loving person? In what ways do you sense you need to grow in spiritual Love?

ONELIFE MINISTRIES IS AN OFFERING OF THE REV DR BRIAN K WILCOX, A CONTEMPLATIVE CHRISTIAN AND ORDAINED CLERGYPERSON LIVING IN SW FLORIDA.