“This is love, not that we love God, but that God loves us.” 1 John

“How do I love Thee?  Let me count the ways.” Elizabeth Barret Browning

How do you love God?

How does God love you?

Those are pertinent questions as we embark on the forty-day journey through Lent.  It’s quite certain that the simultaneous occurrence of Ash Wednesday and Valentines Day didn’t escape you.  It may have caused a small internal conflict with a few, wondering how to share a gift of love with another while at the same time beginning what is traditionally seen as a more somber and sober time of reflection and repentance.  But I wonder if perhaps that coincidental calendar occurrence might prompt us to view this season a bit differently.  Not as a time for remorse, regrets, or renewed religious efforts, but rather as a time to relish love.  That is, after all, the entire reason that The Christ took on human flesh.  “This is love, not that we loved God, but that God loved us, and sent The Son.”  Love.  Love.  Love.

So how would you answer that first question? How do you love God?  Human nature is such that one might be inclined to want to give a gift or some type of demonstration as proof of one’s sincere love and devotion.  Nothing wrong with that.  But I can’t help but wonder if there is something deeper and more meaningful than mere gestures.  Consider for a moment someone you love who is no longer with you.  If you had the opportunity to be with them again, how would you spend the time?  I would venture to guess that merely being in their presence would be enough.  More than enough.  There wouldn’t be a Martha-like motivation to “get things done”, nor would some type of gift exchange matter to you.  What would matter most is merely sharing meaningful moments together.  There wouldn’t be a need to exchange anything, not even words, at least initially.  A warm embrace and the holding of one another would be more than enough.  So then what does that type of expression look like in relation to God?

And now the second question, how does God love you? I would invite you to consider this outside of the standard and go-to answer of “by sending God’s Son.” Make it specific and personal.  How did you experience the love of God this past Wednesday? I wonder if in our desire to experience God’s love in a big way we miss the minor but much more meaningful ways that God loves us. God gives us small, daily reminders of God’s love for us.  I have been especially aware of this these past few days while spending time with the children at Ray of Hope in Battambang, Cambodia.  I don’t speak Khmer, and the children don’t speak English.  But love is clearly evident in the smiles, the hugs, the handholding, sitting together eating breakfast or lunch, playing a game like Uno.  The language of love is conveyed in non-verbal communication.  The meaning of love is experienced by being in the presence of one another, without the compulsion to give gifts. 

This is now my fourth trip to Cambodia, and as I reflect on it, I realize that my motivation is to bask in this unique love of God displayed and conveyed through these dear children.  But of course, such unique experiences aren’t necessary to savor God’s love.  It can be experienced in a myriad of ways, some quite mundane, and others mystical. 

I have made this my goal during these next forty days; to make the Lenten Season a time of heightened awareness of God’s love for me, and mine for God.  Keeping that question, “How do I love Thee”, which cuts both ways, central in my awareness. I would invite you to do the same.

How might you be more aware of God’s love for you not only during this season, but throughout your life?