Please note: “Agape” is pronounced ah-GAH-pay. It sort of rhymes with “agave.”
“Love is the doctrine of this church.”
Many UU churches begin services with this phrase, and it’s a worthy principle.
But can we go further?
Can we try?
There’s a word I invite you to contemplate this morning:
AGAPE. Agape love.
A radical, quiet, boundless, unconditional love.
Agape love is the love we have
For God, the Universe, the Interconnected Web,
For whatever words for Spirit make your soul sing.
Agape is also the love Spirit has for us.
And if we can find God in the face of everyone we see,
We can have agape love for others.
And even—imagine!—even for ourselves.
Then we’ll understand that our worth
Doesn’t depend on how many Valentines we got
Or if our girlfriend thinks we’re cute
Or if our mother said “I love you” often enough.
Can we let everything that isn’t capital-L Love fall away, just for awhile,
And try, as the song says, to hold the whole world in our hands?
Can we love ourselves enough to remember that we, too, are Divine?
Can we love others enough to care deeply about what matters to them,
Even if we don’t understand it?
Can we love the world enough to give part of ourselves
In service, even in sacrifice, to its wholeness?
Can we love Spirit enough to let it in when it comes knocking,
As it is right now, in this moment.
Come in, Love, and welcome.