Third Meditation
(The Way of Perfection, Chapter 4)

"Do to others as you would have them do to you. For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them… But rather, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as (also) your Father is merciful. Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven… A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil; for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks. Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' but not do what I command?" (1)


Snares

The Father loves His little ones
With all His love - no one's favored;
And we, as His daughters and sons,
Must do the same - like Christ our Lord.

Favors of friends, like bartered trade,
Turn love into a marketplace;
Excessive attachments degrade
The freedom to respond to grace.

The passions, in friendships, distort
The spirit with sensual load,
And, out of carelessness, contort
Virtues from which this love once flowed.

His love, when channeled properly,
Reaches the heart, pure and intact;
The soul responds accordingly,
And love's shored up where it once lacked.

To serve Him well, love must be free
To flow out continuously.

May Our Lord teach us the path of true friendship with Him and with one another.