The Practice of Love
by Jasmine Bellamy
Stillpoint Executive Director
“Love is a safe place of shelter, for it never stops believing the best for others. Love never takes failure as defeat, for it never gives up. Love never stops loving.”
1 Corinthians 13:7–8 (TPT)
Welcome to a new quarter at Stillpoint where we turn our attention to Love.
This feels like the right place to begin. Not only because I am a love practitioner, but because at its core, spiritual direction is a loving practice. It is the practice of deep listening and sacred witnessing. It is seeing the Divine, Love, in another and gently helping them to see it too.
Spiritual direction creates a space where we open to encounter our truest selves. We become more aware of the movements of God within us, around us, and among us. It is, in many ways, a shelter. A place that holds us in love as we are.
While many search for love, what I have come to learn is that love is already present. The question is not whether love is here, but whether our hearts are open enough to perceive it.
Many of us long for the feeling of love, but perhaps we are being invited into something deeper. As the mystic Teresa of Ávila reminds us, love begets love.
I experienced this recently while attending Cohort 16 of The Art of Spiritual Direction at Ghost Ranch. Love was unmistakable. It was present in the vast and awe-inspiring landscape, in the care of our faculty, in the curiosity of our interns, and even in the heart-shaped labyrinth.
And then, I encountered love again in a way that stopped me.
Through this poem by Rosemerry Trommer, which I received as Lectio Amoris, a way of reading through the lens of Love:
So I can't save the world-can't save even myself, can't wrap my arms around every frightened child, can't foster peace among nations, can't bring love to all who feel unlovable.
So I practice opening my heart right here in this room and being gentle with my insufficiency. I practice walking down the street heart first.
And if it is insufficient to share love,
I will practice loving anyway.
I want to converse about truth, about trust. I want to invite compassion
into every interaction.
One willing heart can't stop a war.
One willing heart can't feed all the hungry.
And sometimes, daunted by a
task too big,
I tell myself what's the use of trying?
But today, the invitation is clear: to be ridiculously courageous in love.
To open the heart like a lilac in
May,
knowing freeze is possible and opening anyway.
To take love seriously.
To give love wildly.
To race up to the world as if I were a puppy, adoring and unjaded, stumbling on my own exuberance.
To feel the shock of indifference, of anger, of cruelty, of fear, and stay open. To love as if it matters,
as if the world depends on it.
A Gentle Invitation
What word or phrase captured your attention? Perhaps an image arose.
I invite you to read the poem again, slowly. Notice how what drew your attention connects to your life.
For me, the phrase “so I practice” continues to shimmer.
Love is not simply something we feel. It is something we practice.
Practicing love is not soft, though it softens us. It keeps our hearts from hardening and increases our capacity to become more loving.
To be “ridiculously courageous in love” is not abstract. It is lived. It is embodied. It is often quiet and unseen. And at times, it asks us to remain open even in the face of indifference, fear, or pain.
Even in these dark and tender times, I practice love anyway. It is my resistance.
It begins with the cultivation of the heart.
As we practice love together in this community, I invite you to reflect:
Where do you feel most drawn toward love right now?
When do you feel furthest away from it?
You might hold these questions through a simple daily examen. Not to judge, but to notice. Not to fix, but to become aware.
Practicing Love Together
Love is not an individual pursuit. It is a communal practice.
If you feel drawn, we invite you to join us:
The Practice of Love: A Contemplative Gathering
May 17, 2026 at 3 PM PT
A virtual contemplative gathering focused on the practice of love.
In the quiet stillness of communal reflection, we find the strength to meet the world with an open heart.
Together, we will hold the question:
What does it mean to practice love in a world that often feels fractured?
This is a space to slow down, listen deeply, and explore what it means to live and lead from love in the midst of everyday life.
All are welcome.
Looking Ahead
Save the date!
Cherished Belonging: The Healing Power of Love
A Stillpoint One Day Retreat with Father Gregory Boyle
June 27th, 2026
9am - 4pm PT
We are honored to welcome Father Greg Boyle of Homeboy Industries. Drawing from his work and his book Cherished Belonging, he will invite us into a deeper practice of kinship, healing, and the sacred truth that we belong to one another.
He reminds us that people change when they are cherished, and that cherishing is love with its sleeves rolled up.
More details to come!
The Heart and Soul Loving Leadership
September 22–24, 2026
Trinity Retreat Center, West Cornwall, Connecticut
Resources for the Journey
I am inspired by Father Boyle’s Cherished Belonging and invite you to read it with us as we prepare for the retreat.
For more from Father Boyle, our featured poet, Rosemerry Trommer, and me, you can find us on Ritual in Everyday Blessings and The Poetic Path.
As we meet each moment, may we remember:
Love is a practice.
And what we practice, we become.
Stay open.
Jasmine
Jasmine Bellamy is the Executive Director of Stillpoint: The Center for Christian Spirituality and the founder of Love 101 Ministries and The LOVING Leader. A spiritual director and contemplative preacher, she is a doctoral candidate at Fuller Seminary, where her research centers on how love forms the inner life of leadership. She is a graduate of Stillpoint’s BIPOC Spiritual Journey Program and received her Certificate in Spiritual Direction through Liberated Together. Through her work, Jasmine integrates contemplative practice, spiritual formation, and leadership development to support individuals and communities in living and leading from love as a daily practice.