Prompt thought of the week:
The Samaritan woman at the well found out that the water she came for was not really the water she needed so desperately. This woman had looked for love in many places, in many faces, and when finally offered a soul-quenching love by Jesus, she became a powerful messenger of Good News. Just as the water given by God that flowed in the desert for the Israelites offered new life, the desert of our lives can be refreshed if we look for love regularly at the well of living water and offer life-giving water to others.
The Lenten theme this year is Lookin’ for LOVE. When I heard what the theme was, I knew I wanted to write a devotional. In December of 2013, my dad died suddenly of a heart attack. We were all devastated and I felt numb. I instantly had the image from the movie “Gravity” in my mind when one of the main characters drifts off into space. (Interestingly, that was the last movie I saw in the theater with my dad).
I essentially moved in with my mom, leaving my husband and three kids to navigate on their own across town. My mom sprung into her hospice mode, having been a volunteer, then volunteer coordinator and trainer for many years. She was in task mode. Even though we were together, I felt lost. It felt like my foundation had crumbled out from underneath me. Together, my mom and I navigated the next several weeks with our church community and friends rallying around us…loving us.
When I finally came up for air weeks later, I had a realization that probably seems obvious to most: The actual meaning of life is for us to LOVE each other. This is the very essence of God. Carefully read through all the stories and teachings, and this is at the core. As we go through our lives, people are woven into our lives at different times. Some are a part of our lives for years and years, and some, far shorter amounts of time. The common thread is love.
As I went back to my classroom after having been out for several weeks, I took some small rocks from my parents’ yard and wrote the word “love” on each one. I gave each of my students a small rock to remind them how much they are loved. I asked them to keep their rock in their pocket or backpack as a reminder each time they saw it, to remember all of the people who love them and the people who they love as well.
THIS is our most important job, to love each other.
Prayer: Dear God, as we go through each day, please help us to not have to go far to “look for love.” Help us to be a ready source of love towards others and help us show even more love than we receive!
Laura Edenborough-Lewis
