[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HE-OuQX50zA&feature=channel&w=500&h=350] [An example for us on this Moment of Love Monday of what it looks like to offer love in the face of -- and in place of our own -- judgment, anger, or hatred.]

Hi there, friends.

Just as we recently began a monthly tradition called Repentance Thursday, we also began a monthly tradition called Moment of Love Monday.

It happens every month on the Monday following Repentance Thursday.

Which means it happens today.

You can read the background on this monthly exercise here.

At its core, Moment of Love Monday is an opportunity to share how we practiced love -- particularly in a difficult situation -- in the previous month.

This exercise is rooted in our belief that love is more powerful than violence and has the power to transform it.

It is also rooted in our commitment to offer love in response to any degree of violence or hatred in our lives.

This will not always be easy, and we will not always have stories to share.

But it is a chance to learn from each other.

To get creative.

To see what is truly possible.

And to be putting into practice these things we say we believe.

To start us off this month, I've shared a video at the top of this post that I discovered on Donald Miller's blog several weeks ago.

It's the story of someone who encountered hate and offered love.

I find it truly inspiring.

It embodies, for me, what the nonviolent ethic is really like.

I'd like to live this way more often.

So, as you look back over this past month, consider the following:

How did you choose to practice love in a difficult moment?
How did the injection of love into that moment affect the circumstances?
How did the choice of love in that moment affect you in the aftermath?

I look forward to hearing your stories. You are such an inspiring tribe. I'm so privileged to be on this journey with you.