spiritual discipline for love

A friend needs me today. What, then, have I done with my day? Is it really possible that I am a pastor, a shepherd in love with her sheep? I have sanctified my day on her behalf. I am praying with every breath: inhaling shalom and exhaling love. I am listening to the Breastplate of Saint Patrick on repeat, seeking to internalize the prayer that Christ be everything to her this day. I am praying that her friends and family be roused to prayer and that our prayers be mingled as one beautiful choir, inspired by the beauty God has painted in her face and brought to tears through God’s tears for her.

Is this shepherding? Is this being blessed to be a blessing? Is this the beautiful calling God gives us? Is it my pleasure and my responsibility to sanctify my day, my thoughts, my every breath for the benefit of those I love?

Praise the God who calls us to a life of prayer, sanctity, community, grief, and with-ness. Praise the God who breaks my heart on behalf of another.