An Abundance of Love

There is an old Peanuts comic strip where Charley Brown is playing baseball. He is pitching and Linus, his catcher, approaches the mound to go over their signs. He says, to Charley Brown, “One finger will mean a straight ball. Two fingers will mean a straight ball. Three fingers will mean a straight ball. And four fingers will mean a straight ball…”

As Linus leaves the mound, Charley Brown says, “I have a very sarcastic catcher!”

Pointedly mean sarcasm is not usually helpful. However, sometimes in life, it does help to have a friend who can tell it like it is. We all need people who can hold us accountable to values we’d like to live up to, to correct us when need be, and who love us enough to call us on blatant self-centeredness.

In his letter to the Ephesians (4:15), the Apostle Paul encourages us to “speak the truth in love.”

James encourages us to be “quick to listen” and “slow to speak.”

Part of our shared humanity is a need to be in relationship with others. It is central also to our faith and our faith formation. We all need people we trust enough in our lives to not only love us but to encourage us also to grow.

But relationships can be messy. We sometimes hurt one another. We step on each other’s toes. We disagree. It takes much grace, a deep willingness to listen, forgiveness, and an abundance of love to make it work.

And so I pray today for each of you and myself – much grace, a deep willingness to listen, an ability to forgive, and an abundance of love.

Let us pray: God of Grace, we admit that we are not perfect. We have room to grow. And we admit that we need you and we need others to help us along the way. Give us the grace and humility we need to listen and to love. In Christ’s name. Amen.