I’ve often referenced this hosting site’s prompts. Today’s is, “What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?” It’s easy, for me. My dad often used to tell me to “be very careful who you marry.” I think every young boy and girl should hear this as often as I did, over and over. I wrote a whole post on this particular wisdom of my dad on my other blog, and my last line was, “He passed away 20 years ago, but he did get to meet the Angel and come to our wedding, so he knew I listened.” I like that last line, I imagine he’s happy and proud of me to marry so far out of my league, and I’ve always imagined him, totally contented, knowing what a difference he, his life, his love, and his words made in my life.

[I didn’t expect to write all that, but I’m not too sorry. Yesterday, I spent a full, extraordinarily beautiful day with my mom, aunt, and sister, and I was thinking of him. Apparently, the AI prompt generator was, too.]

Anyway, in last week’s message, I asked a lot of questions. I always do, but there were more than usual on Sunday. And really, there’s only one that has taken up residence in my head, heart, and spirit. Only one that I ask several times every day. Perhaps, of all these questions, only one that truly matters.

Oh, that’s probably not true. I can think of at least 1 more that is certainly more important (we can talk about that one another time). But, maybe only 1.

The question is… IS it loving? Is this (word, thought, post, act, etc) loving? Or, to put it another way, am I loving? If we are to be walking, talking examples of agape…

[Agape is a Greek work for love that doesn’t care if you want to, if you feel like it, if you like the person, if anything. Agape just does. Agape loves neighbors and enemies, loves when it’s hard and when it’s “impossible.” Agape forgives and gives grace.]

…are we?

An hour on Sunday might not change our lives too much, no matter how cool and compelling the teacher might be, but if that teacher asks a question like “is it loving?” and we allow the Spirit within us to answer, to hold our hand and lead us toward the space where we might be able to say yes, then transformation is certain. If we can sit with these questions, honestly and with humility, we might find new pathways to awesome new destinations.

Incidentally, if that teacher asks questions like this, we can all be assured that the teacher has been on his knees, aggressively stretched for the last several weeks, laid bare, staring at the ceiling, asking himself the same questions. That teacher has been asking if his message is loving? Is it True and is it loving? And then that teacher is constantly examining everything for that answer, everywhere he goes, everything he says, thinks, does. Is it loving? Am I loving???

Yesterday, I drove my mom and aunt home from my sister’s home in rush hour through Philadelphia. Was I loving toward the other drivers? To the construction workers? To all involved in the gas price racket? To my passengers?

There’s no end to this: Am I loving to the Angel? To you, who might be reading this? To me? Are the thoughts I have ultimately loving, rooted in nothing less than agape?

…And what if they’re not? If I find that this post is NOT, would I delete these last few hours of work? What if I really want to publicly eviscerate the committee that decided we didn’t need that turning light, would I have the discipline to breathe and not push the “post” button? What if that person realllly deserves it? Is it loving?

Is this thing (whatever it is) love?

There is a terrific scene on the tv show The Office, where one of the characters, Dwight Schrute, says, “Whenever I’m about to do something, I think, ‘Would an idiot do that?’ And if they would, I do not do that thing.” Maybe we could all take a second to paraphrase his words during our day? Whenever we’re about to do, say, think, something, we could ask, Is it love? And if it’s not, we could not do that thing. And if we all did that, then what? What would our relationships and communities look like? What could be possible???