Wednesday Midday

It is, as it is in many places in the country, a hot day. This is the third day in a row that the thermometer on my car reads in the triple digits. I know it’s summer. Summer is supposed to be hot. The average temperature for this time of year, however, is 88. This is damn hot.

I was speaking to the Mean Therapist a couple days ago. She pointed out that often when I write, I’m processing something. She suggested that such an emotional space is actually rather dark space for me. I need to be a little melancholy to write. I pushed back. I don’t think that’s always the case. Yet, here I am processing and in this moment, I am aware that it makes me a little sad.

So I’m going to endeavor to write without processing out loud. I will still write about how I feel about things. I will still write about my spiritual experiences and opinions about religious matters. I will still write about politics and social life in a broader sense. But I’m going to be looking for new writing prompts. If you have some to share, please do so.

Today’s Franciscan Nugget: Day Twenty Five - The Second Note - Love - Jesus said, "I give you a new commandment: love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:34-35) Love is the distinguishing feature of all true disciples of Christ who wish to dedicate themselves to him as his servants.

For the Christian, the spiritual life is a life of loving. All the challenges, all the opportunities, the apologizing when you fuck it up, all of it is about loving. We are constantly learning to love well. We have to overcome the ego. We have to overcome our own foibles. We may even have to overcome trauma. Loving asks for our whole being body, mind, and soul. This is the incarnation.

We embody the love of God. We are the recipient of God‘s love. We are the agents of God‘s love. No more. No less.

I’m gonna go make some music. I hope you all have a good day. Stay cool if it is warm where you are. And if it is temperate where you are or even cold because you live in the southern hemisphere and it’s winter… Send some of those cool breezes our way.

Y’all be excellent to each other.