Lead Me Into Love

"Do not owe people anything, except always owe love to each other, because the person who loves others has obeyed all the law."---Romans 13:8 (NCV)

"Love is a mutual self-giving which ends in self-recovery."---Fulton J. Sheen

"Faith makes all things possible. Love makes them easy."---Unknown

I think this will be more like a story, than a devotional. We'll see...

So, I've come to accept (and celebrate) that nothing about me is "normal". Around this time of year, as I'm coming to understand more about the relevance of the SYMBOLISM of the holiday season more than [the actual history of] Christmas itself (especially the commercialism of it all), I find that I actually enjoy listening to non-themed throwback classics and jazz'ish tunes more than Bing Crosby and Nat King Cole; not that anything is wrong with it...it's just that's my preference (and I'm coming to understand that, too, is OK).

Take today for instance. I have had Anita Baker's "Lead Me Into Love" on repeat. Now, I've always loved Anita's music, but for some reason, the song hit me in a different soft spot...not the fairytale romantic way, but the "Yeah, that's what I need to be praying on a daily basis" kind of way.

A few weeks ago, one of my spiritual sistahs called to tell me, "You know what I'm praying for you? That what presents itself as light but is really darkness will remove itself."

I thought it was pretty profound then, but when I really made the time to think about it...wow, she didn't say things that present themselves as darkness, but things that act like light that are actually dark...masqueraders...manipulators...opportunists would leave me...AMAZING. Several hours later, I changed my number. (Don't take it personally, ya'll...some folks I just haven't gotten around to yet.) A month later, I'm listening to this song that intros as so:

We may never understand
If love just happens or it's planned
We must believe our spiritsknow somehow...

And, moves into a chorus which says:

Lead me into love
Light the way for me without your touch I can not see
Lead me to love...I'm deep in the miracle of you

Now, without question, it's a love song to a man, but wouldn't it be nice if we assessed all of our relationships from this perspective? If we would make an effort to simplify things to "Is this person leading me into love (you know, patience...kindness...if they make me feel good about who and whose I am...if they are honest and gentle...non-competitive and consistent...if they challenge me to grow and support me through the process.---I Corinthians 13:4-8) or out?

How can we know? According to Anita, love lights the way, right? She's actually onto something because according to I John 1:5 (NKJV), "...God is light and in him there is no darkness at all" and I John 2:10 (NKJV) tells us, "He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him." The truth (John 8:32) about relationships, at least healthy ones, is that when we are in a "love relationship", we are in a "light" one as well.

Light: not heavy; using or applying little or slight pressure or force; easy to endure, deal with, or perform; not difficult or burdensome; amusing and entertaining (remember that "joy" is a fruit of the Spirit---Galatians 5:22-23); free from trouble, sorrow, or worry; carefree; cheerful.

Oh, but the most important definition, at least spiritually: something that makes things visible or affords illumination.

Yes, love/light relationships should be non-burdensome...easy to deal with...free from worry and leave you in a cheerful state (at least most of the time), but more than anything, it should make things clearer for you; you should be able to see, envision, develop, grow as a result of connecting to/with/in them. If you're in a relationship where you question your self-worth...where you are compromising your gifts/your value/your personality/your priorities/your needs...where you find yourself "in the dark" more than not about their commitment to you and the relationship, you might want to "shed some light" onto things and reevaluate.

Now, that doesn't mean that everyone will "shine on you" in the same way...nor should they. You're multi-dimensional...why wouldn't your relationships be?

Recently, I took some pictures. They are all of me, but it's funny to hear people say how much they like one over the other...which outfit they prefer...which pose they most resonate with. Almost no one says the same thing. Again, they are ALL me, but they represent different sides of me. DIFFERENT PEOPLE CONNECT TO DIFFERENT PARTS. It's been about a 34-year-lesson to get down that, that too, is OK; that I don't need to hide or mask a part of me for fear that if someone sees it, they won't like it. It is what it is. I am who I am. If, after prayer and scriptural research you find something wrong, the Word says, "But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brotherin need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?" (I John 3:17-NKJV) If I "need" something, by all means, IN LOVE, help a sistah out. But, the Word also says, "If someone says 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also." (I John 4:20-21-NKJV) God is love, love is light and those who love others will abide in that light...no hatred...no lies...no false form of godliness. How miraculously enlightening!

And so, several of you have been asking me what you can pray for as it relates to the next season of my life. I think this would be it. That I would be led into love...into light...into persons, places, things and ideas that will shine new(er)and great(er) perspectives, purposes and plans.

And that I, through the power of God, would do the same.

Amen...and amen.

©Shellie R. Warren/2008