River of Love

We are born with an amazing capacity to love, and though we may love imperfectly, love never ends.

This past weekend, members of my church family celebrated the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. On Saturday evening, as I crossed over the Matanzas River, which is part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, I imagined a voice coming from the heavens, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Mt 3:17) The river was not the Jordan, there was no sight of a messenger who fed on locusts and wild honey, but the gospel words lingered in my mind as I visualized the christening of long ago.

The sun had begun its descent, and grey clouds blanketed the sky, filling the scene with a foreboding awe. Still, the vast beauty of it all was remarkably calming. The Spirit of God broke through the heavens and spoke of Divine Love.

In 1Corinthians, Paul says that love is patient and kind, bearing all things, believing all things, hoping all things, and enduring all things. I claim to love, yet I’m not always patient and kind. I bear some, believe mostly, hope much, and struggle to endure.

Divine Love, however, fits all of the apostle’s requisites. The Father so loved the world that He gave His only Son; Jesus proved His love by dying on a tree; and the Holy Spirit pours out love via gifts and fruits. We are graced with radical, restorative, unconditional love in the highest form.

Yet, we fail. We know the story of the Transfiguration: While upon a mountain with three of His apostles, a voice again came from a heavenly cloud, declaring, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Only this time, God added, “listen to him.” We listen and give love consideration, but still, we fail.

We can’t seem to reciprocate Divine Love, but thankfully, God doesn’t expect us to be perfect. He made us in His image, but allows us to choose our own love lifestyle. As a bonus, He sent Jesus, who plunged into the Jordan, made the waters holy, and became the source of all healing and goodness.

God’s mercy continues to make us clean, and relying on His grace, we try our best to be a visible demonstration of His love. We awaken each day with a new birth, baptized and forgiven, and we strive to make loving choices with faithful hearts. Human love is fallible, but in pursuit of perfection, we clothe ourselves in Divine Love and give everything we’ve got— our heart, our soul, and our mind.

“Know ye what it is to be a child? It is to have a spirit yet streaming from the waters of baptism; it is to believe in love, to believe in loveliness, to believe in belief.” — Percy Bysshe Shelley

Wishing all of you renewed, baptismal graces,

Annmarie