"Evidence of love" is the other headline of the day
Originally appeared on spirituality.com
Many of my son's friends, who have been in and out of our house over the years, are students at Virginia Tech. I bow my head in gratitude that they are safe, and wrap them each in the love that fills my heart at this time. I also reach out with love and compassion to the families and friends of those who were injured or killed. Each of those students is precious and loved.
Irresistibly, my thought cherishes mental snapshots of these young friends. One drove a snowplow through snowy nights while still in high school, another liked to invent crazy contraptions, and others were in theater. Before my son Daniel, and one of his friends, David, could drive, I took these two fellows on the camping trips they wanted to experience.
On one of those trips it rained so hard that nearly everything we had with us became soaked, including the two boys and myself. That night we crawled into our truck to try to keep warm. (No, we never discussed going home. We were on an adventure.)
The two boys wrapped up in the last dry things we had—a sleeping bag and a blanket—and quickly drifted off to sleep. They were totally unaware that my teeth were chattering with cold. It was a long night for me in those wet clothes, but it will never be forgotten!
When I realized I wasn’t going to sleep any time soon it came to me to go through the alphabet using each letter in turn to help me think of things I was grateful for. When I got to “D” it was easy. I was so grateful for David and Daniel! I knew I loved both of them through and through, and that feeling was truly something to be grateful for! I felt so close to God, and I realized that God’s loving presence is evidenced in the love we find in our hearts. The feeling of love is God made manifest.
Today, as I face this tragic event at the university, I find that I can see evidence of God, just as I did that rainy night. The closeness of the students themselves, the outpouring of care and compassion, and the heartfelt desire to comfort others are incredible examples of the love we all can see in people’s hearts. It isn’t trivial. This is evidence of the very best in all of us. It is evidence of God with us.
Long ago a spiritual thinker caught this vision, “If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.... God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.” God is seen in the love in our hearts, and we need to value this and rejoice wherever and whenever we see it. This love is bigger, more powerful, and more definitive than the explosive hurt that catches the headlines. And its healing touch will last a lot longer.
Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, likened this feeling of love that wells up in us to angel messages, which she characterized in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures as, “God’s thoughts passing to man ….” This is God communicating His nature to each of us.
She valued this spiritual sense as the very evidence of God’s love: “When angels visit us, we do not hear the rustle of wings, nor feel the feathery touch of the breast of a dove; but we know their presence by the love they create in our hearts. Oh, may you feel thistouch,—it is not the clasping of hands, nor a loved person present; it is more than this: it is a spiritual idea that lights your path! ... What a glorious inheritance is given to us through the understanding of omnipresent Love! ... This sweet assurance is the ‘Peace, be still’ to all human fears, to suffering of every sort” (Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, pp. 306–307).
Valuing this love, and sharing it abundantly, is a very substantial contribution we can make in the face of this tragedy. Each of us can live this love, right where we are in our own communities. We can allow the very love that is God, pure and unconditional, to reside in our thoughts and take tangible shape today and everyday.
We can also allow God’s angel messages to awaken in us the need, and willingness, to notice those who are hurting and to reach out to them. God’s love is infinite and gives us the wisdom to notice, as well as respond appropriately, to all who cross our path. In this way, the fullness of God’s love melts the hurt that might otherwise fester.
As I look at the faces of those who were killed in this tragic shooting, I honor and value their unique contribution to the lives of those who know them, and to humanity as a whole. I have great compassion for their family and friends. I also find in my heart a deeper commitment to value and, yes, love those whom I have contact with today, and all the days ahead. This is evidence of God’s presence in our lives, and is the other story of the day that always deserves our full attention.
Evidence of God’s love:
Science and Health
581:4 (to ;)
King James Bible
I John 4:12 If, 16 God is