Never look away

If you could feel for anyone else the love God has for that person, you could not bear to look away. Love God back in just this way.

Girl with a Pearl Earring, by Johannes Vermeer

This is not just a duty — it is the greatest joy you will ever know, and it will lead a million surprising places, though the first place it leads is your cross. Do not be afraid of your cross! The demands made on you by the world, flesh, and devil are more terrible and heart-rending, and they do not bring what they promise anyway.

This is in part the mystery contained within, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it,” and, later, “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Remember always, my friends: You are greatly loved.