The Spirit of Love

About three months ago I convinced my wife that I needed to go to Michigan in the middle of winter. Normally this would be considered a really stupid move (as some of my friends would say, "Are you insane?") but on this particular instance it was to go to a conference at Mars Hill. Well today I'm finally here. I'm at the Isn't She Beautiful conference, which is essentially a dialog about how to be a church that loves.

Rob Bell (the pastor at Mars Hill) says what I believe, which for someone who values language is like having a personal translator to my soul. His gift is in seeing and communicating the language of what we all are experiencing on this journey.

This morning was on the Eucharist, which is the giving of life by the pouring out of our souls. Its this practice of following Jesus in love in the giving of ourselves. Its this profound place where we connect to what it means to be a human in this crazy world and still not give up. The key for me this morning was actually not the Eucharist, even though I really, really enjoyed the conversation. The key was in seeing the little ways that I have forgotten to say, "I love you." Once we broke for lunch I had to stop and send my wife an email letting her know how much I appreciate her. I needed to write to her so that she could read it in her own space and reflect on it when she needed.

And then it hit me. What Rob is really trying to do is foster the spirit of love within a community so that it pervades everything they do. I could feel it within the building, within the people. We, the audience, we all on a little pilgrimage to experience that community. He was just smart enough to bring everyone together around this banner.

Thank you Rob for choosing love.