The God of Love
Click on the gallery below for a contemplative reading from Isaiah 43 (NIV)
Songs of Love
Click on the songs below for songs of love: His Love, our love, and the birth of Love.
Art & Photography for Love
Click on the gallery below to dive into images - ancient & modern - of God, love, and the Christmas Story.
A Poem of Love
from my second book of poetry, What Remains
180 Words for Snow
There is a people group
hidden
at the top
of the world.
They dwell
inside
reindeer hide
in the tickle
and grit
of soft
creature strength;
it shields them
from the biting
wildness
of raw-edged
isolation.
There on the
stony banks
of Norway’s
cut-glass sea,
the Saami roam,
placing their feet
one by one
in reindeer tracks,
shooting their lives
from the cannon
of need
across a canvas
drowning
in white,
burning
in white,
bleeding
in white.
And there
removed
from the
bustling world,
the Saami people
have learned to see
the arc
of the planet
bending
the horizon,
the bright
stratus clouds
of animal
breath,
the unyielding
presence
of infinite snow
which they have tasted
and known
and loved
and hated
with such exquisite attention
they have
called it by
over a hundred
names.
So when
I say
I love you
I am saying
I will
learn
to pay
attention
content to spend
my wandering life
with open eyes
and a naming tongue.
Prayers of Love
Ancient prayers. Breath prayers. Scripture prayers. Lean on these or create your own.
O Wisdom, Lord and Ruler, Root of Jesse, Key of David, Rising Sun, King of the Nations, Emmanuel, Come, Lord Jesus.
O Lord, grant me to love Thee with all my mind and soul, and always to do Thy will.
O Lord, who hast mercy upon all, take away from me my sins, and mercifully kindle in me the fire of thy Holy Spirit. Take away from me the heart of stone, and give me a heart of flesh, a heart to love and adore thee, a heart to delight in thee, to follow and to enjoy thee, for Christ's sake.
Fill us with holy love, and open to us the treasures of thy wisdom.
O Soverign and almighty Lord, bless all thy people, and all thy flock. Give thy peace, thy help, thy love unto us thy servants, the sheep of thy fold, that we may be united in the bond of peace and love, one body and one spirit, in one hope of our calling, in thy divine and boundless love.
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
I pray you, Lord, make me taste by love what I taste by knowledge; let me know by love what I know by understanding... Draw me to you, Lord, in the fullness of your love. I am wholly yours by creation; make me all yours, too, in love.
Inhale: I am in the presence Exhale: of God's loving gaze.
Journal Prompts
Use them all, or only a few, or none at all.
Notice which ones draw you. Notice which ones repel you. Create your own. Draw. Discuss. Play.
May these prompts serve as a springboard.
01.
Longings.
Where in your life would you like to see love kindled?
02.
Resistance.
Does anything in you resist love? Consider the push-back.
03.
Vulnerability.
Is there anything you would like to receive from Jesus before embracing love?
04.
History.
When have you experienced the endless love of God?
05.
Love.
How does God demonstrate His love to you? Consider His face, and His delight in you.