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| A heart in the snow of a Minnesota winter |
If it is not about love, it’s not about God.
Lately I’ve come upon something in reading the Bible that has revolutionized my way of doing that deep reading we call lectio divina. It is so very simple that I am astounded I did not do it before. Primarily in the Gospels, when I sit down to do reading, I look for love. I guess we see what we are looking for. I ask a very simple thing: What does this say about love? If Jesus is the enfleshment of love, there is much we have to learn and learn and relearn. I have found that some of the most troubling gospel stories are opened up if I ask “Where is love?” It has become my compass, my true north. For example, two of Jesus’s disciples ask Jesus if, when the kingdom comes, can one sit on his left and one on his right. Jesus is quick to put it to them, love is not about power and prestige, but about service, that is, it’s about love. We do best not to think we know what love is when we deep read. It is Jesus, who is our teacher, who will teach us. We will learn about love as Jesus opens our hearts and minds, most especially our hearts. If it is not about love, it is not about God!
Charles Preble, OblSB
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