A simple exercise

By Editor | June 20, 2025 |

Sean of the South
Sean Dietrich

Do this. Think of your favorite thing. I promise this won’t take long.

Simply close your eyes and think of your favorite thing in the whole world besides queso dip.

Okay. Got it? Now you’re going to have to open your eyes again because these paragraphs aren’t going to read themselves.

Maybe your favorite thing is a person you love. A child, a romantic interest, a grandparent, a pet, a member of Congress, etc. Or maybe it’s a place you really, REALLY like to be. The lake. The beach. The mountains. The Department of Motor Vehicles.

Now I want you to imagine this thing in perfect detail. Hold it in your brain. Just take a few seconds, if you need.

I want you to notice something.

Can you feel the love radiating from this visualized object? If it’s a person, can you feel the joy swelling in you? If it’s a place, can you feel the quiet power of contentment this picture gives you?

Okay. That’s actually love you’re feeling. You LOVE this place. You LOVE this person. And all that love is bubbling inside you like carbonation.

Hold this thought in your mind a little longer.

Count to ten.

Do you notice how you’re sort of smiling? Granted it’s not a BIG smile you’re wearing. It’s probably a soft, almost imperceptible grin.

Good. Now I want you to let the image go, but hold onto that love feeling it gives.

Imagine now, that this love you’re feeling is a little ball of light.

Make the ball of light bigger. It’s the size of a baseball. The size of a beach ball. The size of a 1979 Chevette. Keep imagining it bigger. Soon, the ball of love has grown to the size of a Canadian province. The size of a continent. The size of a planet.

And it’s still getting even bigger. At this point, you can’t stop the love from growing. It’s out of your imaginary control now.

The light is bigger than the sun, which is 333,000 times the size of earth, and it’s overtaking the whole universe.

Soon, this ball of light and love has grown so big, so unfathomably ginormous, that it has consumed everything it touches. There are no shadows in the presence of this light. Darkness cannot exist here.

We don’t have to give this immense love a name. For how can you name something so immense, overwhelmingly basic to the fabric of the universe? You can’t. To give it a name would be to cheapen it.

And here’s the thing. This light and love has a mind of its own. A personality of its own. A sense of humor. It has desires and plans and ideas. Almost like a person, but much higher.

This love – this rich, all-encompassing ball of eternal light has your whole LIFE planned out. In fact, this love is thinking about YOU right now. You are its baby. You are what it cares about. You’re all it EVER thinks about.

It has always known you. It knew you before you were in the womb. This love will be with you always, even until the end of the age.

There is nothing this love would not do for you. Nothing in the conceivable universe. This love would sacrifice itself for your well being.

Now, I know all this sounds woo-woo. And, let’s be honest, this might be the weirdest thing you’ve read today on social media except for that post about the guy who ate a bat. But I want you to remember this tiny glimpse of love you just had.

And today, before the surgeon does his work on your body, to remove the cancer, remember this love.

Before you lay the remains of your loved one to rest in the soil. Think of this love.

Before you walk into the lawyer’s office to sign divorce papers you don’t want to sign. Love.

Before you participate in your first A.A. meeting, which might be the most courageous thing you’ll ever do. Love.

Before you swallow those pills or place that gun in your mouth. Love.

Love. Love. Love.

Multiply this love times a million septillion. Times infinity. Then repeat the multiplication process ten times ten thousand millenia, until the universe implodes. And that’s STILL not even close to describing the love God has for you.

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