Reflection “Give Yourself to Love” by Susan Drake

 

In the first couple of chapters in Luke we see a lot of what scholars called Angelophonies. Angels appear to Zechariah, to Mary, and then to the Shepherds. In all these occurrences of angels appearing to humans the message is often the same. First, the angels say something like “Sorry I freaked you out, just appearing out of no like this way but please, don’t be afraid.”

 

Second, the angel says something like “God is about to do something spectacular are you willing to participate.?” And thirdly, The humans, though sometimes with fear and trepidation, willingly surrender themselves to God’s request, out of love for God.

 

Whether or not you believe in Angels or see this story as a metaphor the message is the same. Sometimes we will be asked to give our lives, our very selves over to the love of God, to fulfill God’s purpose. 

 

A defining moment or moments where we get to choose what path we are going to try and follow in our life. We are asked to choose a path where we seek to be the most loving people we can be or a more worldly path where our own self interest, our own satisfaction, is our guiding principle. 

 

In our scripture Mary didn’t hesitate, she says “Here I am” ready to serve. And seriously, that was a pretty big ask on the angel’s part. But her complete self is totally surrendered to God, She chose the path of Love, as did Zack and the shepherds but in all three cases it took an angel to lead them to the right path.

 

I was reading an article recently about how angels have fallen out of fashion here lately. Theologians don’t talk about them much anymore.  But for me, every time I have stepped off the path of love, there has been and angel to help guide me back to it.  Maybe not like the angelophonies of the Bible but certainly good people, telling me, hey, don’t be afraid, come this way, you will be amazed about what love can do.

 

I lost one of those people in my life last week. Not someone I was that close to, nor had I seen them but once in the last ten years but someone who was that angel  who stood at a crossroads in my life and said “hey choose love” it’s a much better life than the one your living.

 

She was one of those women that I just simply wanted to be like. A kind artist and musician. When you were around her you felt at home, at peace. She helped me find sobriety, reclaim God, and when I was at my lowest she helped me find my love for music again.

 

You see way back in the eighties I did a lot of music, in some pretty rough bars, with country bands, always doing the loud music that people could dance to and never the music of my heart. When I hit my bottom, I had to give up the bars and the band for a while.

 

My friend Nancy invited me to play with her little folk group. In the sessions that I jammed with that little group I found my voice again, and the poetry of my heart. I made harmony with people who just did it for the love of music, there wasn’t a lead singer, there wasn’t the egos of the bands, there was just the harmony and the music. It was so healing to my broken soul, so full of bravado and bitterness. She heard the songs that I had written and encouraged me to write more. 

 

And I did, 1992 was probably the most prolific year for writing for me in all of my life. And with every song, came more healing, more joy, and love for others took hold of me and blossomed, replacing self pity because angels like Nancy stood next to met saying, be not afraid, you can do this. God is going to do so much with your life. 

 

Do you have people like that. Angels that stood in your crossroads, saying, this way is better? What have those moments been in your life where you had to choose the way of love over the way of self centeredness? What are those moments where someone guided you to a place of healing from a path of self destruction?

 

I suspect that most of you have been that angel as well to others. Helping someone to choose love, choose God, Surrender their lives to loving others and being God’s hands and feet. I bet you have said to someone “Be Not Afraid” It’s going to be alright. 

 

When I found out that my friend had passed away, almost immediately a song popped into my head that we used to sing together. 29 years later, I hadn’t given this song a thought but there it was tucked in with my memory of her. It fit so well with today’s scripture about Mary giving herself over to love, I asked Julie to sing it with me this morning. 

Here it is “Give Yourself to love, by Kate Wolf.