On the Minister's Mind

I have a quote by the Sufi mystic poet, Rumi, displayed in my home.  It reads, “Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” – Rumi

I keep that quote before me to constantly remind myself that I do not need to look for love. I am love. Love is my decision to make in all things.

We are going to spend the entire Summer of Love exploring the topic of love from multiple angles in a 3-month quest to find and remove some barriers within ourselves that we may have built against it. This is a worthy endeavor because all of us have those inner obstacles, some that have been long forgotten, but still impacting our lives.

Most of us made personal decisions about the concepts of love and relationships before we were old enough to drive!  We watched unhealed people around us struggle with their own issues, thinking they were modeling for us the way love works, and declared ourselves completely uninterested in living in those ways. 

Then, in our own young adult friendships and romantic encounters, we discovered new potholes to drive through, and most likely, much to our dismay, found ourselves repeating patterns we had observed in our early years! Unfortunately, those troubling experiences caused many of us to wall ourselves off in superficial connections, trying to protect ourselves from further disappointment and trauma.

However, our soul nudges us to stay open, reach out to others, deepen the bonds, keep trying to connect. It is our spiritual nature to share life and love, even in the face of understandable human reluctance. Light obliterates darkness when a candle is lit, and love overpowers fear when a heart allows itself to open.

Love is not waiting for us in one “soulmate” who seems impossible to find. Love is inside you, ready to see the love in others and create a positive exchange. Love is available in every relationship we have with another person, present within the animals with whom we share life, and pulsating through the activities of our daily life. It is the energy of light flowing through us in every moment.

Let’s take down the walls of protection, release the cynicism, challenge the fears, and remove any and all barriers we have built against love. Our souls are so very ready!