I belatedly remembered that this is my favourite phrase ever, so should have been my blog name!
Simple at times, almost impossible at others, it's one of my mantras for living. Every single decision we make, encounter we have, I think we make this choice - do i act out of love, or fear? Choosing love means small stuff like smiling at a stranger, buying fairly traded coffee, or big stuff like caring for the planet, or responding with grace to someone having at go at us.
Sometimes I'm in an expansive place, easy to love everyone and everything. Other times, my buttons have been pressed, my gerbils roused and not yet liberated, and when someone seems hurtful or angry, I can want to lash out. We see it happening all the time. But my understanding of life is that we can choose not to be afraid of the other person's hurts and anger - recognise them as an expression of pain needing to be heard and healed. I may not be the person to help with that - i have that choice too. All I can control is my own response, and I can be fearful, or I can be loving.
Fear sells. Maralyn Manson, in Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine, first got me hooked on this - consumer pressure is fuelled by fear - buy this spot cream or else you won't attract others. Rob Bell also spoke of this recently in his Love Wins tour, when asked about why the idea of hell is peddled so furiously.
But the beliefs I hold tell me that love can be bigger. We can set our fears aside - will I get hurt, will i not be understood or liked, will I make an almighty mess of this? Maybe. We can decide to love anyway.
Hope you can make choices today out of love rather than fear :D
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