love take me now

I'm teary again. There this song.....

Love take me now, come hold me now,
and carry me over this restless field;
love take me now, move through me now,
and raise me up over this restless field.
-- LJ Booth

The nature of human love is a strange thing. Theists often hold it up against the love of God, musicians often talk about romantic love like it's the only one, mothers have nothing to compare to their love for their children, and yet so many people don't believe in it at all--like Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny or the tooth fairy, gone with the innocence of childhood into the deep reaches of some bottomless vat of lost emotion.

I believe in love, although I don't believe in a sentient, intercedent god. The church I grew up in had a pulpit with "God is Love" inscribed on the front in bas-relief--at age 7 I managed to get it inside out and wonder if not believing in God meant that I couldn't believe in love, either, and for a while I didn't. I have claimed my innocence as I've aged.

Love is real. Love appears in my life all the time--when I'm fighting it, when I'm tired of it, when it isn't convenient, when it makes no sense, when it hurts more than anything except hatred or indifference. Love brings tears to my eyes when I can't cry, and brings laughter through the tears. Love moves, love transforms, love changes, love drives life. Oh yes, love is real. It is spiritual discipline to have faith, even faith in love, and it is spiritual discipline to allow it to guide my life. Does it sound like I'm talking about a god? Language is inadequate to heartspeech; we do the best we can.

prayer:
May my heart remain soft and open.
May I never close myself to love.
May I give and receive love freely.
May love to transform me.
May love remain present and vital in me all the days of my life.