Note: I scheduled this post to go up while I was out of town yesterday, but for some reason it didn't automatically post. I apologize for the delay.
Last week, I bought an album called “Songs of Taize.” If you are unfamiliar with the Taize community and/or its worship style, you can read about it here. One of my favorite Taize songs is “Ubi Caritas”, which is #2179 in the United Methodist supplemental hymnal, The Faith We Sing. We sang it often at Ada First UMC, the church I attended in college. The Latin words, and the English translation, are as follows:
Ubi caritas et amor,
Ubi caritas Deus ibi est.
Live in charity and steadfast love,
Live in charity; God will dwell with you.
I’m struck by the call this hymn places on our lives: Live in charity. We are not called to think charitably. We are not called to act charitably. We are not called to work for a charity, volunteer for one, or even donate to one. We are not even called to live in a charitable way. We are called to live in charity.
Live in charity. What an interesting concept. What does that mean to you? What would it look like to actually live in charity? How would doing so lead to God dwelling with you?
Reflect on the questions this hymn provides, and allow them to guide your steps on this day and every day. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment