Love Wins

A few months ago my friend Elizabeth Kaeton recommended Rob Bell's new book Love Wins. I had used some of Bell's Nooma videos a few years back at Saint Matthias Church and liked his way of sharing and thinking about the Good News. Given Elizabeth's recommendation I bought and read the book and I recommend it highly. This evening I got the chance to hear Rob speak at Trinity Church in Boston and to speak with him briefly as he signed a copy of the book that I had bought for a friend. Earlier today as I was thinking about hearing Rob, I gave some thought to the books title. I trust that Rob is right - and that I and others have been right - and that love does win. I agree with Rob that we can refuse to let love win in our lives, we can turn away from the offer of love and live in hells of our own making. I also believe that we can make it very hard for love to win in other people's lives. When we abuse someone, particularly when parents and teachers and clergy abuse children, we make it harder for love to win. But I continue to believe that love finds a way even into the most bruised lives and can win. What seems clear to me, both from the stories that Rob told tonight and my own experience, is that our congregations can make a difference, can be communities where love can be experienced and where lives can be transformed. What it takes, in Rob's words, is for congregations to be Eucharist for their communities.