Eastertide
May 5, 2018
Scripture Reading: John 15:9-17
As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. –John 15:9-11
Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poem, How do I Love Thee? popped into my head when I read our scripture for today. Her poem most likely was written about her husband Robert Browning but I think it is interesting to read regarding our love relationship with God as the poem flows with Ms. Barrett Browning’s faith.
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
I love thee to the level of every day’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for right.
I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death*.
A very successful 19th-century poet, Miss Barrett was an abolitionist and a strong supporter of ending child labor. She did justice with a pen. Her marriage to Robert Browning, also a poet, grew secretly from their common careers for fear her father would not approve. When she married Mr. Browning anyway, she was disinherited. Perhaps that is a testament to the level of her love for Robert.
God is the very essence of love. Accepting the wholeness of God’s love enables our ability to love in all circumstances whether the love of parents, family, spouse, the folks next door or our neighbors at the ends of the earth. We meet them where they are, and where we are and grow together in the bonds of God’s love.
Prayer: Gracious Lord,
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal grace. Amen.
*How Do I Love Thee? (Sonnet 43) by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. See at https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/how-do-i-love-thee-sonnet-43