Better to give than to receive?

This voyage into the ways and means of love relates to being open to receiving love just by virtue of who you are and the courage it takes to open oneself to love.

Now, I consider myself to be more spiritual than religious per se but I have been drawn to the church by a courageous lady who speaks to a version of “church” that I can get into – a place of inclusion that says come as you are, be as you are. All are welcome, all are loved. I can live with that!

What follows is the response prayer I wrote when asked to speak at church on the Sunday before Christmas.

[Note: the fourth Sunday of the Christian Advent calendar is Love, it falls on the last Sunday before Christmas. The first three Sundays of the Advent calendar are Hope, Peace and Joy. I’ll tell you a secret: not having grown up going to church nor been baptized, I had to look this up. It is all new to me!

Luckily, our Reverend is also a fabulous teacher who delves into the historical context of the texts to give us a sense of what was going on at the time these stories were written. To whit, some believe that the ancient Greek word for “young girl” was mistranslated as “virgin”, giving rise to the description of Mary as a virgin and all the trouble that notion has caused in various traditions but I digress...]

Good Morning!

Earlier this year I became Mrs. Love in this very Sanctuary, which is probably how I made it on the list of potential candidates for Reverend Linda to call upon on this particular Sunday in Advent.

In this season of giving I am going to take a moment to look at the act of receiving. In fact, I see that the back of our bulletin this morning asks us to prepare to receive the gift of Love.

But I’m sure we’ve all heard the expression that it is better to give than to receive? I’m going to challenge this assertion and say that is bunk.

Of course one can’t exist without the other – you can’t give without having someone else to give to - they are two sides of the same coin. When we get a gift we’re not somehow diminished are we? No, in fact the opposite is true; we have been blessed by love in action. And if we protest or push the gift away, we rob our giver of basking in our reflected joy.

It is with this thought in mind that I begin our prayer today – that we are meant to receive. I invite you to bow your heads and join me as we pray:

Heavenly Father,
Help us remove the barriers of fear and unworthiness that sometimes limit the love and abundance we allow into our lives. Just as we open our hands to receive a gift and open our arms to receive a hug, we pray today that we can fully open our hearts to receive all of the love surrounding us, just waiting to fill us with joy if only we would let it in.

Give us the courage to ask for the love and support we need. Help us to trust and have faith in others to be there when we need them. Let us not judge ourselves for wanting to receive the help we so willingly offer to others.

We pray that everyone experiences the love they deserve just for being alive today. Help us to see ourselves as You see us - just as a baby sleeps soundly knowing and expecting love, let us remember that we are but a wrinkle in time away from being that child we once were and though our form is different, the substance is still the very same.

Let this be the fountain of our giving, from a well that overflows with love from Source, from others and maybe hardest of all, from ourselves.

Most importantly, we ask for the courage to BE love, to have the courage to live from the higher truth of our hearts. Please let your Divine Intelligence flow easily to our open hearts and allow Spirit to work through us.

As we have lit the candle of love here today, we pray that Your light of Love shines through us to illuminate the world.

Amen.