L’amor che move il sol e l’altre stelle – Last line of Dante’s Divine Comedy

   My Italian son-in-law tells me that this last line of Dante’s masterwork means (translated from the archaic Italian) "the love that moves the sun and the other stars." In the Comedy, the people come outside to be in the presence of this magnificent force – the Love of God.

   The greatest gift of our human existence is the chance we have to witness God’s grace and power. This love that moves the sun and all the other stars can guide the hands and eyes of caregivers as well. You carry this gift with you and unwrap it for others when you reach out from your heart to help another…

   So many turn their backs on love. So many, blinded by the repetitive nature of certain tasks or scarred by previous rejections, lose their chance to bring the presence of God to their sacred encounters with the sick and vulnerable.

   In today’s meditation, we have the chance to pause, to breathe, and to contemplate the many chances we will have on this day to let Love pass through us and into the lives of others.

   Each caregiver has the chance to affect the lives of so many. Our kind acts awaken the energy of love in ways that ripple out beyond our knowing. Your kindness to one breeds his or her kindness to another in ever-widening circles. This muliplier effect means that each compassionate action plants the seeds for love to flower in many places. 

   Today is the only day you have & now is your only chance

   to let Love stream through you into the eyes & hearts &

   souls of strangers. 

   Today, as the stars hide above the shrouded sun & beaded

   curtains of rain sweep the high mountains clean &

   a solitary swallow arrows over the tiled roof of an old

   Spanish Mission, you remember your mission.

   Where is your heart today? Will you unwrap its gifts?

   Will the love that moves the sun and the others stars

   move through you before today’s light leaves the sky?

Reflective Practice: Consider a daily practice that will help to remind you to engage your gift of love. This could be something as simple (but powerful) as pausing for three seconds at a patient’s door before you enter. This is a chance for your to repeat a reminder to yourself. This patient is special and so are you. How can you combine your special gifts with the needs of the person before you? Imagine the power of this – a three second pause – long enough for you to catch your breath and remember your gift of loving care.