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Thursday, January 29, 2009

The Colors of Love

How we love and want to be loved

In some ancient cultures the colors of the rainbow represented the stages of human and spiritual development, beginning with the red clay of the earth and rising to the colors of the heavens, fairest violet, white and gold.

Red, the foundation of the rainbow, represents personal identity, “who I am,” “me, myself, and I.”

Red love, therefore, is characterized as loving a person just as they are, for who they are, and is the kind of love everyone of us most seriously wants and desperately needs (approval, worthiness, the right to exist).

In elementary school my Mom told me I had to give a valentine to everyone in the class, not just the ones I liked, “because everyone deserves a valentine.” Was she teaching me about red love? or about John 3:16?

Orange Love is characterized by affection and friendship, relationship and romance. This kind of relational love and emotional intimacy is the love that meets one’s deepest yearnings and overcomes the ache of isolation and loneliness.

Yellow Love is energetic and productive. It is the love of work and those with whom one works, of being satisfactorily invested in something worthwhile, of vocation and avocation. It is the love on which brotherhoods and sisterhoods are built, and on which community thrives.

Green Love, at the center, the very heart of the rainbow, is caring love. It is the pure, unselfish love of others. This generative and re-generative love (the love that gives life) is far more difficult to receive than to give, for it comes only as grace and can never be repaid. Yet, when received, even in times of turmoil, it brings quiet to the soul.

Blue Love is the love of pursuing higher truth together, of listening and sharing. Blue love connects virtual strangers together in their search for and the celebration of grand ideas commonly held. It is the basis of the arts, of public rallies, of civic and religious communities. We experience it as a need when we have strong but unclear ideas and feelings and no way to let them out.

Purple Love is creative, empowering, transforming love, love that sees a vision of something grand and in it finds purpose, structure and order. Purple love is wisdom, like Solomon’s. It is the passion for peace and good will among all, and motivates the high-minded among us—prophets and saints, philosophers, entrepreneurs and world leaders, everyday dreamers—who, having a dream, are selfless and of highest virtue in its pursuit.

White Love (sometimes Gold or Violet) is eternal love, perfect harmony and unity with Christ. It is the grandest of all loves, its need etched deep in the being of every creature, but only momentarily, if ever, experienced until its total embrace is ultimately gained.

In your life’s journey what color of love best characterizes your most pressing need? And what color love needs do others have? Do you need to love in new ways?

Monday, January 26, 2009

# 46 - Names for God

Knowing one’s name, calling one’s name, that’s power! that’s connecting! There are many names for God in the Bible, and as well, for Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Set aside some time, a day maybe, and list all the names for God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit you can. Probe your memory. Search the Bible. Use Bible helps. Ask someone to help you with the project. Google Names for God. Think (or talk) about each name you find. If you are patient and prayerful your vision of God will expand. Each name you recall will bring greater glory to God and a rich blessing to you.

Monday, January 19, 2009

# 45 - Five Finger Prayer

1. The thumb – as it is nearest you, pray for those closest to you.
2. The pointer – as it gives direction, pray for those who teach, instruct, guide.
3. The middle finger – as it is the tallest, pray for all who lead.
4. The ring finger – as it is the weakest, pray for those in need.
5. The little finger – as it is smallest, pray for yourself, but let that prayer be least.

Monday, January 12, 2009

# 44 - The Sign of the Cross

The Sign of the Cross is made with the right hand, your fingers touching first your forehead, then your heart, left shoulder and right shoulder, thus tracing an imaginary cross on your body. While touching your forehead say “In the name of the Father…” While touching your heart say “…and of the Son…” At your left shoulder say “…and of the Holy Spirit” and at the right shoulder say “Amen.” On the vertical (forehead to heart) one can visualize the Son coming down from the Father. On the horizontal (shoulder to shoulder) one can imagine the Son reaching out to all the world. Such a beautiful prayer in so few words. Use it often.

2009 - Imagine

It’s 2009 already, a new year, time to remember once again that God is faithful and will remain faithful to The GGP, God’s Great Purpose. You play a part in God’s Great Purpose.

Jeremiah 29:11 tells us - 'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'

In Genesis 28:10-18 we read of Jacob’s ladder reaching to heaven and God promising - I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.

Deuteronomy 31:8 records the words Moses spoke to Joshua as he turned over to Joshua the leadership of the Israelite people. Moses assured Joshua of God’s faithfulness -
The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.

These are words of promise and hope. These words are true, true because the Bible is true. These words are true because God is
• the God of promise and hope
• the God who delivers and leads
• the God to whom the future belongs

God never promises to make our plans and dreams come true. God promises to make us a part of making God’s plans come true.

God’s plans are so beyond our wildest dreams, and their fulfillment so totally satisfying that one would be foolish to settle for less in 2009.

At the beginning of this new year, regardless of your past or present circumstances, resolve to dream God’s dreams, to conform your will to God’s purposes, and inherit the future God holds for you.