In the beginning...

With life many of us are blessed to have: mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, and more. Since we have the gift of family, we have the gift of love. This love allows us to put unique demands and requirements on our relationships. Sometimes it is started with a request from one sibling to another or it can be a parent asking something of their child. We respond to these demands, not with spite or bitterness, but with something else. Honor? Faith? Hope? Sure. But we do it for the love and respect that we have for that individual. I get it, everyone doesn’t come from the same stock and there are issues that run deep and cold. But in the greater atmosphere we do share a relationship and it is built in love.

Love is a unique verb that stands for so much in the English language. It serves today as a unifier of sorts as we discuss the next topic of the day. “In the beginning…” as St. John pointed out was the Word. And who was, is and will be this Word?

Sometimes as a journey takes place you come to a dwelling of rest and a time for reflection to see the road that you have travelled. In this state it becomes proper to contemplate where it began. So in the spirit of St. John, let us go back to the beginning. No, not the beginning of the journeyman, but the beginning of where our faith started.

The foundation stones are faith and hope. Love is the mortar that binds them together. This is where St. Paul noted the three and assured us that love is the greatest of them. So with love we can cover a multitude of sins and perform as though there were no faults on anyone’s part. This is not a denial of wrong, but a higher road of understanding that allows love to cover the offense and remove the blemish. Jesus affirmed this in His ministry as He took upon Himself the sins of the world as the sacrificial Lamb of God. He who did no wrong, became the very thing that ruined the nature He created at the start. And because He loved us, He accepted His place and trusted in His Father to give the final victory to Him.

Layered on the foundational stones, love covers the blood, sweat, and tears that went into hewing it. It removes the stain of them and can let the curing begin. So as children of the Light it is our duty to follow in the footsteps of this forgiveness and let love garnish the way.

As it was in the beginning, so shall it be today. We must act more in forgiveness and understanding allowing love to cover and affect the situation we are facing. Do you remember that moment when Jesus entered into your heart? Do you remember the Spirit of Jesus providing a warmth and a electric blanket to the atmosphere? Do you remember when you stepped out of the sand and planted your feet upon the rock?

Though the sea rises and the sand shifts… Though the wind blows and the rain falls… Though the earth rattles and the sun darkens… Stand on the Rock of Salvation and you can’t be moved.

Godspeed, The Journeyman

Ps. Today’s story comes from the reality of life. May your love be as it was when it first was found! Our readings can be found in: John 1, I Corinthians 13, and Psalms 18.