There is no greater masterpiece than the masterpiece of love that is being formed in you, through you, and of you.
There is no greater masterpiece needed to adorn the walls of our lives and communities.
It starts small with one simple brushstroke.
Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam (c. 1512), part of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, is considered an archetypal masterpiece of painting.
If you need practice with love today, try this:
Love someone today that you have not taken the time to really love before.
You might need some help with this project. Consult the Master of Love who is the mastermind behind every masterpiece of love.
You might have to reach down to a pretty deep place inside of you.
It might hurt. It might disgust you.
It might alter you.
It won't be easy.
It may require extra prayer and will require extra effort.
But you will discover something about yourself and something even more about love and love's source.
You may even find something wonderful in the one you love.
"Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone - we find it with another." -Thomas Merton
So, love.
What are you afraid of? Getting hurt? Consider this:
Nobody can hurt me without my permission. -Mahatma Gandhi
Are you afraid of being weak? Consider this:
Character is power. -Booker T. Washington
Are you afraid of opposition?
Consider this:
It does not matter how many are ganged up to oppose you. That is just the backdrop of the redemption drama. It is the stage upon which God takes center stage.
" He redeems my soul in safety
from the battle that I wage,
for many are arrayed against me."
(Psalm 55:18 ESV)
Are you afraid of getting in over your head?
If you aren't in over your head, how do you know how tall you are? -T. S. Eliot
Just love.
And as you go:
"Sprinkle joy." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Nurture your mind with great thoughts. - Benjamin Disraeli
"Never discourage anyone.....who continually makes progress, no matter how slow." - Plato
Stretch yourself beyond yourself because:
"Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Love is and always will be, beyond what you have already mastered. However, the good news is that the Master who has mastered love is your Master and, to the extent that His mastery is at work in you, you are becoming a masterpiece of love.
Try this, purse your lips together today,
Resolve your own intent,
Form the words,
Look someone in the eye and say,
"I love you."
