Love is Calling

My good friend Char, who was over thirty years ahead of me on life's journey, once said, "Life is big!' At the time, I didn't realize how powerful those three words were or how they fit so well with Char's other favorite words, "I don't know". When you put those two phrases together, it's clear that she was gazing into the mystery, that she was seeing so far into the depths of life that her words became as simple as a child's.

Words drop when we are in the presence of the essence of life. Awe comes to mind. When you've traveled in this plane of existence for over eighty-eight years as Char did, you have a bit of experience with this thing called life. 

There is so much we don't understand. Thus, we must bow to the sacred mystery within us, around us and through us. Our very breath is a mystery. Most of the questions we have about life and our existence cannot be answered. And yet, we wake up every day stepping into the unknown. Some days we embrace this mystery full on. Other days, we'd rather not engage with it.

That's okay.

Over the years, Char handled the bigness of life by focusing on love. She called herself a love investigator and she loved to remind people that love is what matters. In fact, she often says that "Loving is calling." Removing the inner veils that are blocking the flow of unconditional love has been her life's work, so to speak. She didn’t just speak about this, she practiced it and lived it every day. She had to, because she was married to a man who, as she put it, was very difficult to love. However, instead of walking away from him, she decided to see him as her teacher, as the one who could most polish the mirror within her heart.

As much as we'd like to control our destiny, sometimes life has other plans for us. We head in one direction, and life blocks it, requiring us to go in a completely different direction. It’s an act of deep surrender to face what may be the most challenging of people or situations and embrace them as teachers. Few of us have the tenacity to do this. We'd rather run from the pain. But sometimes pain is the very best way for us to grow and stretch and evolve.

Char discovered this, and even though her life could have taken an entirely different direction, she embraced the one before her, committed as she was to love.

Love is calling.

It's calling us all to dive deep into the mystery of life and honor it with our presence. There, and only there, is where we'll find love. Because, as Char surely discovered, it is who we are. Nothing more. Nothing less. It is what we're all seeking. She knew this, which is why she cast off anything that wasn't about that. She headed straight into the burning fires of love so that she could be purified and cleansed of anything that was not that.

I can only hope to come close to that. 

How about you? Where is love calling you?

Maybe right now your answer is, "I don't know". 

That's okay. Just continue to listen to those quiet whispers in your heart and they will lead you where you need to go.