Healing Unlove.

There is a vaccine that cures the effects of brokenness, its called love.

It seems we all need a shot of love.

"It is unlove that makes people unwell, and it is love and love alone that can make them well again." --Karl Menniger

Working as a Chaplain I see many "unwell" people-- brokenness in various forms all around me. I see unwell bodies, unwell hearts, and unwell lives. I see unwellness in those I serve. I see unwellness with those I serve in the care community. I see unwellness in myself.

But there seems to be an epidemic in unwell souls, and most of the unwellness in the soul seems to stem from some form of unlove.

For some reason brokenness is something we attempt to hide, disguise or bury within our souls. Some of us carry secrets and shames from unlove that has left ugly scars that we just want to hide. I suspect it has to do with unlove from another and self. If I am shattered, I think there is a good chance that I must be flawed in someway, so in an effort to avoid being unloved, I dare not face my brokenness. I dare not reveal my brokenness to you. Sometimes I’ll even attempt to hide it from the only thing that can ultimately heal me-- God.

When I show you my scars I am admitting that I am imperfect which is one of the most loving things I can do.

Folks often speak of the love of God, and I believe that it is true that Divine Love is the ultimate healer. What I find so amazing is that God comes to us when we think we are the most unlovable. God seeks us out and finds us when we are most hidden in our shame. Often God uses another, who has by the mystery of grace, has somehow been touched by the miracle of love.

God finds us in the midst of our unwellness and asks us to stretch out our hands.

May we not run from our wounds, but reveal them. May we dare touch the wounds of another and allow another to touch ours.

There has to be something more than just an intellectual assent to God’s love. We have to be touched by God’s love, then we are healed. That is why we need each other. I need to you to love me and help me know that I am worth loving. None of us are beyond the grasp of God’s healing love; we just have to risk showing our scars from unlove to one another. It may be the most loving thing we can do for each other.

Love is our greatest hope. We all need hope.

Wherever you are on your journey and regardless to how unwell you life has been due to being struck by unlove, I just want to remind you that God reaches out to you with hands that have been wounded by unlove. Allow those wounded hands to hold your wounded heart and let the healing begin.

To paraphrase a friend:
"Love one another. For love covers a multitude of brokenness that stems from unlove."