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Drawing from the Wellspring
This week's Daily Word offers a simple yet profound affirmation: “I give and receive love with gratitude and joy.”
Simple words—but not simple living.
As Advent continues its gentle unfolding, I've found myself reflecting on how love is not
something we wait for, earn, or manufacture. Love is something we remember, something we return to again and again, especially when life has asked more of us than usual.
Over the last four or five weeks, my own journey has felt particularly sacred. Advent began not as a quiet retreat from life, but as a deep invitation to stay present while moving through change, responsibility, tenderness, and trust. Each week, faith, peace, and now love, has met me exactly where I was, not where I thought I should be.
Love, I'm learning anew, is not always dramatic. Sometimes it looks like steadiness. Sometimes patience. Sometimes allowing ourselves to be human without harsh self-judgement. And often, love asks us to stay open when it might be easier to retreat.
Catherine Ponder describes love as a wellspring—an ever-flowing spiritual resource within us that is never depleted by giving. I love that image. A wellspring doesn't strain or force. It simply flows. It's always there, ready to be accessed, no matter how dry things may seem on the surface.
That idea has stayed with me this Advent.
When schedules are full.
When emotions are tender.
When the world feels loud or uncertain.
The wellspring of love remains.
And the invitation, especially this week, is to draw from it intentionally.
Not just for the people who are easy to love, but for those closest to us. The ones we see every day. The ones who may test our patience or mirror back our own edges. Advent love isn't sentimental. It's practical. It shows up in tone of voice, in listening without fixing, in choosing kindness when we could choose being right.
At the same time, this season has reminded me that giving love is only half the practice. Receiving love matters just as much.
Letting someone help.
Accepting kindness without deflection.
Receiving care without apology.
When we allow ourselves to receive love with gratitude, we affirm that the flow of love is mutual and sacred.
John's gospel captures it beautifully: “Love one another.” Not as a lofty ideal, but as a lived experience. Love isn't meant to stay theoretical. It is meant to be embodied, shared, and circulated.
As Advent moves us closer to Christmas, I notice how love quietly weaves together everything we've already touched this season. Faith gives us the courage to trust. Peace steadies our hearts. And love—love activates it all.
I find myself asking gently these days:
- Where am I being invited to draw from the wellspring of love rather than my own limited energy?
- How can I let love flow more freely in the small, ordinary moments?
- Where might I allow love to reach me, just as much as I offer it?
These questions don't demand immediate answers. They simply keep the heart open.
Advent is not about perfection. It's about preparation, preparing our awareness to recognize what has been here all along. And love, in all its forms, is always present, always ready, always flowing.
This week, may we remember the wellspring.
May we trust its abundance.
And may love, quiet, steady, and real, find its way through us.
With gratitude and joy, Rev. Bobby 
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