Thursday Prayer: Love Without Measure

Father, Bernard asked: "What is the measure of love for God?" His answer: "To love without measure." Teach me to love you like that - not calculating how much I must love to be saved, not measuring my affection against others', but loving without limit because you're worthy of limitless love.

Bernard's life was full of contradictions - contemplative ideals and political power, spiritual wisdom and troubling actions, beautiful writings and moral compromises. His example reminds me that spiritual insight doesn't guarantee perfection, that deep communion with you doesn't prevent tragic mistakes. Forgive me for assuming that knowing you means never failing you.

Help me learn from Bernard's wisdom while avoiding his errors. Give me his passion for knowing you, his emphasis on your grace, his mystical hunger for union with you. But protect me from wielding power destructively, from confusing my causes with your kingdom, from compromising your love to serve my agendas. Teach me to love without measure - you and the people you've made in your image.