There is a story my favourite author Richard Rhor tells, it brings me joy, for how I see myself in it.
It’s about a young boy who asks an old man how to love God.
Learn to love a stone, the old man says. Just hold it in wonder, see it, feel it.
The same with the mountains, the sky, the stars be present to them. See them in all their forms.
Then try to really love, give yourself to, be present to, be faithful to another person.
When you have loved the rocks, the flowers, the mountains, the sky and loved another, then you will be ready to love God, the old man said.
Yes, I have been a gardener all my life, I used to lie on the roof looking up the stars, I have slept out under them, in Africa.
The keyword, to me, in this story is “ready”.
Ready to be broken open, ready to know great loss, ready to grieve, ready to cry, ready to open your heart.
When there is nothing left to hold onto, then you know that love truly begins.
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