Love is Accepting! Acceptance is labeling someone as "okay" and having no particular desire to change them. Who they are is perfectly fine with you. You pose no condition on whether you will love them or not. This is call unconditional love. When your love IS conditional, the moment they step outside your set of conditions, love evaporates.

Love is also Appreciating! Appreciation is one step beyond acceptance. It’s when your focus is on what you like about another. We look at them and feel this sweeping appreciation for which they are their joy, their insights, their humor, their companionship, etc. When someone says they are "in love" with another, they mean their appreciation is so enormous for this person that it consumes their every thought.

Love also wants another to feel good! We want those we love to be happy, safe, healthy and fulfilled. We want them to feel good in all way, physically, mentally and emotionally.
But what does this mean to me on Pentecost? Well, to me, the blossoming of God’s spirit is love. We are loved because we are somebody.

Each day at Operation Rainbow/PUSH, the Rev. Jessie Jackson gets the crowd moving with the back and forth, “I am... “Followed by everyone repeating; “Somebody.” Healing that over and over builds a sense of strength and community. Hearing from yourself and those around you builds confidence.

Because, I am... Somebody!!

A clerk in a posh hotel greeted a small man who asked for a room. This fellow was so unimpressive that the clerk told him immediately no rooms were avail-able. About that time the hotel manager came out of his office to the desk, recognized the man and called the clerk aside. He whispered to her that the man asking for the room was Pierre Monteaux, who for many years was the distinguished conductor of the San Francisco Symphony.

The clerk came back to the desk, apologized and said, "Why of course we can take care of you, Mr. Monteaux! Why didn't you tell me you were somebody?" Whereupon Maestro Monteaux turned to leave, "Madam, everybody is somebody!"

We’re all somebody to somebody; at least I hope that’s true. For good, close friends, there is a connection that goes beyond definition. I don’t mean My Space friends, either!! True friend with a spirited connection is what counts.
In this room, during this weekend, we reconnect with friends that we may only meet once a year at IML. IML is like an annual Pentecost in a way.

A fire ignites weeks ahead as we prepare, plan and pack. We see familiar faces (and other parts!). We share meals, rooms and playtime, too. Today, we share a connection to our spiritual side.

We are.. Somebody!!