Is this the darkness of the tomb, or of the womb? I don’t know. All I know is that the only way we will endure is if each of us shows up to the labor. —Valarie Kaur

I grew up listening to Leo Buscalia on PBS when I was in junior high school. (I know I know what a nerd). He captivated me the way he explored to multi-dimensions of the word “Love”. It was a seed that has continued to grow to move away from the sentimental, purely emotional definitions to something richer and deeper, more about how the holy moves and heals, more about ethical action and intentions. Do you need to reclaim “Love” for your own life?

Today from Fr. Richard Rohr’s daily meditation  he lifts up a new voice Valarie Kaur who is currently reclaiming, deepening and complexing the idea of “Love”.

“Love” is more than a feeling. Love is a form of sweet labor: fierce, bloody, imperfect, and life-giving—a choice we make over and over again. If love is sweet labor, love can be taught, modeled, and practiced. This labor engages all our emotions. Joy is the gift of love. Grief is the price of love. Anger protects that which is loved. And when we think we have reached our limit, wonder is the act that returns us to love.

“Revolutionary love” is the choice to enter into wonder and labor for others, for our opponents, and for ourselves in order to transform the world around us. It is not a formal code or prescription but an orientation to life that is personal and political and rooted in joy. Loving only ourselves is escapism; loving only our opponents is self-loathing; loving only others is ineffective. All three practices together make love revolutionary, and revolutionary love can only be practiced in community.

Valarie Kaur, See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love (One World: 2020), xv–xvi, xvii.

A prayer for us:

All that is Holy and Grace-filled,
Help us to open to Love
That it may heal our broken places
Help us to open to Love
That we might reach across aisles, across streets, across borders
Help us to open to Love
That we might step in the shoes of our nemesis and understand
Help us to open to Love
That we might stay curious and open (even when it hurts)
Help us to open to Love
That we might let the stars spark light in our darkness
Help us to open to Love
That it empower us to love one another in fresh ways. Amen.

Be the Love you hope for the world and allow Love to embrace you in times of challenge.

Be well,
Michelle L DeCoste