Unconditional Love and the Courage to Be Vulnerable

Description

Love has edges. In this message, I reflect on C.S. Lewis’s piercing reminder that “to love is to be vulnerable,” and on the heartache every one of us knows when people disappoint us, leave us, or die. Yet the opportunity to love remains a profound gift. Swedenborg teaches that when we become truly loving people, love opens our understanding of faith, because “faith is the eye of love.” This kind of love keeps looking outward, seeking to understand our partners, families, communities, and world. It holds life as “always blessed, always broken, always shared,” with enough courage to remain loving through disappointment and enough openness to recognize beauty everywhere. That is where wisdom grows, and where love becomes a powerful force in our lives.