December 22, 2013: Advent Week Four: Love – Michael Hidalgo

The 13th Century mystic Marguerite Porete once wrote, “’I am God,’ says Love.” For God is love. And this is exactly what we see displayed in the person and birth of Jesus. A God who is love. How do we know? Because of what this God has done, is doing and will do for us. Which means that love is not just a noun. It is a verb. Love is something that we do as much as it is the essence of a loving God.

The love spoken of in the Scriptures is a practice, a way of living toward others, that one chooses. We see this when we understand that we are commanded to “love their neighbor” and it is always in the context of vengeance, grudges, and division. Not a very romantic setting in which to speak of love. But it does bear the reality of it. We choose to love. And love is not a disposition as much as it is a practice, a way one chooses to live toward another.