Quote
“What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the signs and sorrows. That is what love looks like.”
Author:
Augustine (354-430 CE) was a Latin-speaking theologian and philosopher born in present-day Algeria. He was a key figure in the development of Western Christianity.
Soul-Questions
1. The ancient Greeks had four words for love:
agape (unconditional love)
eros (intimate love)
philia (friendship love)
storgē (natural affection such as felt by parents for children and vice versa)
In your journal, reflect on how you have expressed love in its various forms in the past for family, friend, colleague, stranger, the world.
2. Was the love you showed, expressed verbally? monetarily? physically? emotionally? politically? prayerfully? in an action-oriented way? … simply by your presence? a visit? a card? a handmade gift? a phone call? social media?
3. Journal about an incident where the love you felt was expressed with
“hands to help” …
“feet to hasten to the poor and needy” …
“eyes to see misery and want” …
“ears to hear the signs and sorrow” …
4. Are words sufficient to express love or are actions also an integral part of expressing love?
In your journal, consider a situation with someone you say you love but the other tells you that they receive a different message because your actions don’t reflect your words.
5. What can you do to bring the love you say you have for an individual, so that they feel loved by you in both word and action?
6. Consider ways you might express your love that are different from the ways you have expressed love in the past.
In your journal, reflect on situations when you have felt loved … deeply loved … by a parent, child, partner, spouse, God, pet, stranger.
What did “love look like” in those situations?
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How to use “Soulistry Soul-Questions”
You may want to begin a Journal so your responses are all in one place.
From time to time, a quotation will appear along with accompanying Soul-Questions. Write the quotation. Add the first question and write your response.
Take your time in writing your replies. This is your time – these are your answers.
Then at your leisure, add the second Soul-Question and respond and continue on. Btw, it helps to put the date after each Soul-Question response.
The “Soul-Questions” group on Facebook can be found www.facebook.com/groups/soulquestions
The “Soul-Questions” website and individual quotes/soul-questions can be found www.soulistry.com/soul-questions-blog-posts