From Preference to Presence
The Path to Maturity
There’s an immature version of love and a mature version of love.
The immature version of love is defined as that which I strongly prefer.
I love chocolate ice cream.
I hate vanilla ice cream.
I love classic rock music.
I hate jazz music.
I love the New York Yankees.
I hate the Boston Red Sox.
You get the idea, right?
This is my preference. I’m very attached to it. I’m identified with it. This means I love it.
There is, however, a mature version of love that we’re invited to step into.
In the Bible, it says, “God is love.” And “we are made in the image of God.”
This means then that we are also, in fact, made in the image of love.
We’ve been intelligently designed from the very beginning to grow into the fullness of love.
Love, in the fullness of its maturity, however, is not about preference.
It’s actually about something far deeper.
To love means to care.
To pay attention.
To be present.
To notice.
To respond with the utmost intelligence, aliveness, and creativity, regardless of the circumstances, challenges, or difficulties.
We are called to love whoever, and whatever, we come into contact with, moment by moment.
This does not mean that we like everyone, or like everything. It does not mean that we no longer have preferences, or use discernment.
What it does mean is that whoever and whatever we come into contact with, we give our utmost care, presence, and attention to.
Whether it’s our family, a pet, a plant, a tree, a community of friends, a garden, or our own physical, mental, emotional, spiritual development.
To become fully human is to become an embodied channel for divine love.
We come to live in the presence of God more deeply, not just by knowing love conceptually, but by committing to embodying it in the here and now.
- Brian Piergrossi
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