This year, I’ve been rediscovering the quiet joy of reading simply for pleasure. For so long, my attention has leaned toward learning, formation, and deepening my relationship with God. But lately, something in my inner landscape has shifted drawing me toward more wonder, more spaciousness, more of what stirs the flames of desire in my own heart.
I’ve been reading The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, and it has fascinated me on many levels. One small detail caught me unexpectedly: a reference to how the Eskimos have 351 ways of articulating the word “love.” I paused when I read that. It made me realize how narrow our Western vocabulary can feel one word, maybe four if we dig deeper into Greek tradition. But 351? That feels like a whole universe of tenderness.
It reminded me of the days when I would give Eskimo kisses to my children, those soft, playful moments of affection that needed no explanation. Just a gesture, a closeness, a way of saying I love you without words. The memory made me smile.
Love, in its truest form, is meant to be expansive. It opens the heart. It stretches us beyond our categories and into lived experience. It invites us to notice the countless ways love moves through our days quietly, creatively, unexpectedly.
So I find myself wondering:
How many ways will you express love today?
How many ways will you let love find you?
May your heart discover new languages of tenderness and may each one become a small doorway into the Kingdom where Love reigns.
Smitten With Goodness 