There is much to be thankful for, as well as a great deal to mourn, both need to be addressed. To forget one and to only focus on the other will lead to trouble. Life needs to be enjoyed, and lessons have to be learned, without the learning, there is only trouble, and life cannot be enjoyed in anyway, or at least not for long.
Everything has a price, love can lead to great sorrow and suffering, yet without it, life can become numb and empty, something cold; isolation the fruit. So best to love, and hopefully the suffering involved will lead to something good, bearing plentiful fruit. The reward of love is simple; it is the ability to love even more, a larger circle of people, to expand until hopefully all are loved. To not grow in love is to live in an ever decreasing, shrinking ,universe, until finally one is alone, surrounded only by enemies, or those that are held in contempt. The suffering of the numbing coldness of ones inner hell is greater than the suffering that flows from the growth that love demands.
So love.
Love is simply that,
when infinite,
it is a mighty river
flowing from my heart into yours,
your sins I forgive,
when you fall I lift you up
for your are precious to me
for I know your name,
unknown to all others.
Despair and self contempt,
the guilt that cripples
is from your own heart,
which my infinite love
slowly heals.
My love cannot be understood,
yet it can be experienced,
so slowly I lead you,
at all times I pursue you
up and down the mountain
of your sins,
also along the wrong paths taken.
All are loved by me,
each unique,
I relate to each differently;
no one is outside,
it is you who make that judgment,
for in the depths all are free,
my respect for freedom
like my love
is infinite.
To say yes to me
is an act of perfect freedom,
to say no
the same.
Br. Mark Dohle, OCSO
Holy Spirit Monastery
