Tuesday, July 22
Now the boy Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the Lord and with the people.
—1 Samuel 2:26
We may find ourselves growing in our professional prowess, or developing a new hobby or learning a new skill. These can offer us stimulation, and a sense that we are becoming all that we are meant to be. Plus as a result of our growth, we may thrive in our profession, or find new excitement in life because of our new hobby or skill.
We may also find that this desire for growth is directed inward. We may go to a therapist, or learn to lower our stress level through meditation, or read self-help books, or join a support group. These, too, strengthen our self-understanding and fill out our humanity.
But years can go by without our ever even considering how we might grow in stature and favor with the Holy One. Yet it is this growth that has the capacity to make the other growth in our lives truly meaningful. The way we grow in stature and favor with the Holy One and with other people is not by the doing of things but by the doing of love.
If we will take the time to cultivate and nurture our love for God, our love for ourselves, and our love for others, we will begin to see that the doing of love has made it possible for the light of God to shine through us like the warm sun on a cool morning, or the bright moon on a blackened night.
O God, let my heart yearn to follow the path of love as if it were the only path of life.
The Signposts for July are written by Renée Miller and originally appeared on explorefaith.org in 2004.
