The Tribune

By Rev.

Angela Palacious

As mentioned in my previous meditation, all the other loves of life will make sense and fall into their rightful place when we realize that we cannot become who God intends us to become without the lord. We wonderful children of God reflect God’s glorious image of love when we love God above all else, and live for God each day.

The lord is to be the first person we talk to in the morning and the last person we talk to in the night. He should be the person we live for as the source of the deepest love we receive. Jesus Christ is the one who will never let us down, never is unfaithful, is always by our side; who understands our deepest feelings, accepts us as people of worth and value, appreciates all we do for others, knows your secret longings and sends grace moments to encourage us. Most of us look to the wrong person for wrong things. Until we learn to trust God and love God, we will always be victims, dominated or oppressed. It is Christ who sets us free, giving us our dignity.

First, give yourself to God as a gift. Then, give yourself to your family. Fill your home with the love of God, with the word of God, with the joy of the lord. Serve the lord in the kitchen, obey the lord in the bedroom, be cleansed by the lord in the bathroom, be hospitable to others in the living room. Thirdly, respond to God’s love with service in the church by ministering to anyone and everyone. Have a heart to pray with hurting people, to counsel hurting children, to heal wounded spirits. Pray without ceasing. Remember in the midst of all the serving to keep a balance, to ebb and flow.

Each season in the family has its demands and causes for celebration. The season of parenting young children requires us to be at home as much as we can when they are awake. The season of parenting school age children involves time both to play and be on homework duty. The season of parenting our high school children involves a listening ear and watchful eye, keeping parents home at least one at a time. While the season of nurturing college students, or working adults, brings the most freedom we will have had for our parenting life, grand-parenting may threaten to become the new hobby that starts to control our later life.

As we approach St Valentine’s Day, let us recall the blessings of friendship, the intimacy of marriage, the ministry of parenting, the serenity of solitude. Show love to family members by spending time together to listen and talk with each other. Make time for friends and mentoring relationships, as David and Jonathan, Mary and Elizabeth, Ruth and Naomi, Paul and Timothy, all did in the Bible.

Let us offer more of God’s true love as we open our hearts to one another, and open our homes to one another. We can heal this nation by loving each other, giving godly counsel in a loving way, whether around the kitchen table, shopping in the mall, washing in the laundromat, sitting at the barber or hairdresser, in the garden, on the phone or internet. There is no greater love than the love of God. This is true love at its best.