— Midweek Meditations:
thoughts, inspiration and encouragement
from ACF community members —
Last summer, work took me to Liverpool for a week. Among the churches and cathedrals, pop culture and pubs, my most memorable discovery was a simple inscription on what I learned later is the oldest building in the city centre: “Let us see what love can do.”
I liked it immediately. It seemed just right for the beginning of something: a friendship, a family, a church, a community. A way of saying ‘we don’t know quite what will happen, but we choose love as our guide.’
But when I sat down to write this Midweek Meditation, I discovered that I had remembered the words wrongly. They come from William Penn’s Some Fruits of Solitude; what the inscription actually said was: “Let us then try what Love will do.”
But is there any difference between try and see?
To try love is to put it into practice: much easier when everyone agrees and has the same expectations. It becomes harder when someone annoys us, disappoints us, or inspires the group to move in a direction we don’t agree with.
When interactions are difficult, love means listening before deciding. It means being honest without always trying to win. It means noticing the person at the edge of the room. Sometimes it means giving up our cherished picture of how everything ought to turn out.
But why should we trust love enough to try it?
The First Letter of John gives a startling answer: “God is love.” Not simply that God is loving, or looks kindly upon us from a safe distance. Love is what God is. As the ancient hymn puts it: Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est—where charity and love are, God is there.
But what about seeing?
The psalmist gives us an invitation: “O taste and see that the Lord is good.”
Taste and see. We cannot discover love by looking at it from across the room. We have first to live it.
And how might we know that love is at work? Perhaps by its fruits. People become less afraid. They speak more honestly. The lonely are noticed. Disagreement produces understanding rather than winners and losers. Kindness, patience and joy begin to appear.
This takes time, of course. And love does not guarantee that our original plans will succeed. Sometimes the first thing love does is change the plan. Sometimes it changes us.
Penn said, “Let us try what Love will do.” My memory replied, “Let us see.”
So let’s choose love and give God room to work. Then let’s wait to see what happens.
The ACF Midweek Meditations
are written by a diverse group of our church members with the intention to seek God’s fingerprints in our lives. They range from somber to humorous and are inspired by all facets of live and faith. Written by ordinary people from all walks of life, they reflect a wide range of Christian backgrounds and spiritualities.
Each week’s text portrays the individual viewpoint of its author. They might not always resonate with everyone, and are not meant to be understood as representing the Anglican Church Freiburg as a whole. Yet, as a church that is aiming to ‘Build a Community of Grace’ we seek to practice learning from and listening to one another.
We pray that these humble ponderings add a small spark of blessing to your week.
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