Love Deeply

Teach us today to love.
We pray it often.
We pray it flippantly.
But today, my friends, let's pray it deeply.
And today, my friends, let's pray it slowly.

To love at great cost.
To love at great loss.
To love sacrificially.

To weep with others as they weep.
To smile with others as they rejoice.
To give an ear when others need to be heard.

Let us be all things to all people.
Let the introvert mingle as an extrovert if that is what is required to show love.
Let the extrovert retreat to solitude and silence if God desires it so that they might see more clearly.

Let the scholar do his work in the dirty street.
Let the pastor read something of theological substance.
Let the snob learn to be a servant and reach out to all.

Let us pray earnestly.
Let us be a people who confess daily.
Let us be profoundly repentant.
Let us be a people who cling to the cross.
Let us shout of our Lord's mercy and grace.

Teach us today to love deeply.
Teach us to pray it more deeply.
And teach us to pray it more slowly.
May we decrease so that God's image in the world may increase.