Agape love has been on my mind lately. So much so, in fact, that I am trying to apply it to every situation I am encountering this week—and boy is that hard sometimes. Words like unconditional, selfless, and sacrificial get thrown around easily these days but what does that mean when we try to express agape love in real time and in our real lives?

I have two opposing examples of ways this kind of love has presented opportunity for practice (we all need practice, right?) in my daily life. The first of these is the ongoing show of support and love for the Prairieland defendants and their families. The weekly dinners that created trusted community, fundraisers for legal fees, continued physical support through the trials and sentencing, and the constant pushing back on false information spread across the news and social media; all of these things are the perfect model of agape love: unconditional, selfless, and sacrificial.

The second example was an instance where someone continuously treated a group of people with disrespect until the group finally set boundaries and put an end to the relationship. The group was certainly challenged to find that agape love within themselves throughout the process but met that moment with a commitment to protecting the dignity of this person.

It is examples like these that help us grow into our values and keep our covenant with one another. That’s important to UUs, isn’t it? To grow our values and honor our covenant and model this kind of love out in the world, when it’s easy and when it’s hard.

As we move through this unrelenting heatwave that we call a regular Texas summer, let’s make sure we are challenging ourselves and practicing that agape kind of love. It’s a small way to make a huge difference.

~Lori