Show me all your NEWS OF LOVE!

Show me ALL your news of love! 

By Cathy Fattah! Layland

(sermon for our February Universal Worship)

Hafiz recommends we wake each morning with this thought, that these words be the first to cross our lips our very first exhalation each morning. What a wonderful way to awaken! Anticipating Love with a capital L! Exuding Love, with a capital L! Breathing Love!

What a wonderful way to walk through your day! Awakening in the assurance of Love, of seeing Love, of BEING  Love, how would that form your days? What if you stumbled to the coffee pot tomorrow morning and fell in Love with the smell of freshly ground beans? When was the last time you gave yourself over to feeling absolute delight at the flittering of sparrows around the bird feeder as you gaze out the window while the pot percolates? If you love to cook, do you realize that you cook with Love, and people can taste the difference, although they may not have the words for it? What do YOU love doing? Gardening? Hiking? Painting? Singing? Dancing?  Love with a capital L is right there, just beneath the surface. Feel it! See it! Name it! 

You know, when your Beloved, or any loved one, walks into the room, when you hear his or her voice, even when you simply think of your Lover, your brain is flooded with Oxytocin, and you feel bedazzled! It might be a parent, a child, a friend, a partner, even a companion animal…

And when we breathe Love, the world seems brighter, there’s a smile always on your face or just waiting to erupt, colors seem more intense, you see beauty everywhere and kindness flows from you. What if we could (and we can) tap into that directly, because we commit to Love with a capital L.

How can we do THAT?

What if every time we step through a doorway we walk with Love?

What if we made Love a priority in our lives… not just romantic love, as sweet as that can be, but living by Love? Then see how miraculous everything becomes, even in the midst of Inharmoniousness. Love is the Universal Truth that conquers all.

John Lewis said: “Anchor the eternity of love in your own soul and imbed this planet with its goodness.”

Murshid said, “Love is the merchandise that all the world demands.”

So feel that place within where Love dwells, the source. Fan those embers with each breath. Let it expand and fill your whole

being, expand and surround and hold you so that as you move about your day it’s as though you have your own little Love cloud… kinda like the character PigPen on Charlie Brown cartoons. 😉

Murshid tells us: “You are love – you come from love – you are made by love – you cannot cease to love.” He goes on to tell us:

“Life is a journey, and the quality of one’s life depends upon the quality of the journey. And the quality of the journey is reflected in one’s response to the present moment. If one responds to the present moment in a heartful manner, radiating loving kindness and overflowing with selfless generosity, then blissful contentment, perfection, and tranquility are found everywhere, regardless of the situations along the way.
Love is that state of mind in which the consciousness of the lover is merged in that of the object of his love; it produces in the lover all the attributes of humanity, such as resignation, renunciation, humility, kindness, contentment, patience, virtue, calmness, gentleness, charity, faithfulness, bravery, by which the devotee becomes harmonized with the Absolute.”

“You were born of love…..”

So it’s really your innate nature. Once we’ve dissolved the habits, the limitations of seeing and being that veil our true nature, what is there but love? Then it actually requires little effort to wake each morning with our first exhalation whispering “Show me all your news of love!”

And then, how might that affect the world around you?

In another poem, Hafiz says 

“I caught the happy virus last night

When I was out singing beneath the stars.

It is remarkably contagious – 

So kiss me.” 

When you go through your day with expectations of Love with a capital L, it’s easy to spread that Light. It becomes natural to tell that person you pass on the street how lovely they are. 

To thank the person who makes your coffee. 

To give a sincere kind word for the clerk or the cashier who appears to be having a bad day. 

To gaze with love at the grumpy person. That’s all. Just exude Love with your gaze. “It is not eyes that meet but souls that dance.” Watch them shift! 

Sitting together with a friend drinking tea, being fully present, and watching the Love with a capital L bubble up.

When I get sandwiches for our lunch made after shopping at the grocery store, I say “Thank you for making our lunch today.” And oh how they light up! Just five extra words make such a difference! 

The thing is, not to ‘decide’ “I’m going to do this.” The thing is to so open yourself to the Love that is your true nature, your authentic way of being, that it just flows naturally. To be sweet thru and thru. Then as you move through the world it’s like gold dust settling in your footprints.

“The subject tonight is love

And tomorrow night as well

As a matter of fact, I know of no better topic 

For us to discuss for all time!

(Hafiz again)

Last year I suffered the loss of a long-time companion. My sweet Nero went over the rainbow bridge after twenty years of purring and cuddling and chasing his tail. It wasn’t until we welcomed a new rescue kitty into our home that I realized the flood of Oxytocin she triggers! Suddenly, days seemed brighter, I felt brighter, and I was softer. So, our furry companions can pull Love from our depths.