The sibilant hiss as blades of grass whisper beneath the deeper mysterious rustlings of palm fronds stirring in the stormy wind. The taste of distant rain wafts about my face, tugging playful fingers through hair and clothes as lightning dances majestically across the clouded night sky. Thunder softly rumbles, then roars almost too low to be heard, vibrating my bones as I turn my face skyward in joy. The breeze crests and ebbs, making coy promises that it alone cannot fulfill. The skies hold back the rain as a miser with liquid treasure.
Blinding flashes quicken and pulse, leaping swiftly ahead of their audible companions. Rolling echoes of not-quite grasped words, spoken by some great throat, bringing a smile as they travel far and wide, delighting and confounding my eagerly listening ears. I care not that the language of thunder escapes me. It is not a worry that my breath is stolen by the stunning beauty and brilliance of the lightning. I savor every moment, every moisture-laden gust of wind that caresses me. I soak in every errant drop of rain. I, just for these few minutes, live and thrive on the sustenance of light and sound, food for the soul as gifted to me by my Lord.
To me, how lovely is a storm!
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
Unconditional Love?
I saw something on tv today that really struck me. It was a clip of a woman interviewing an actress about her role as an aunt in a movie.
Actress: "What she gave him was unconditional love, and when you give a person unconditional love, usually it means you blossom. So unconditional love is something we all should give and receive."
Interviewer: "That is a tall order."
Actress: "It is, and that is why I don't give it to everybody."
And then both women proceeded to laugh.
I was stunned. I still am. Here were two women who clearly did not understand what unconditional love truly was, nor how to give it. I do my best to give such love to ALL people, whether I know them or not. It is this kind of love that reminds us that all people need the gospel, that all people need salvation. To not extend such love to every person we meet would be catastrophic on an eternal scale.
Besides that very sobering aspect, I also find it baffling that they would think that giving such love is a difficult thing. The only thing I know of that would make unconditional love a "tall order" would be selfishness. Their laughter after declaring that they would not love everybody highlights this about their natures, and I find it deeply saddening. This is entertainment to people? Watching love be spoken of as if it were a limited and hard-won commodity? I find it very upsetting and unsettling.
A relevant verse that comes to mind is Luke 6:32, "If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them." Clearly this is true of those two women, and heaven forbid we be anything like them. Additionally, in the last part of verse 38, it says, "For what measure you use it will be measured back to you." May we heed that warning and extend unconditional love to all we meet!
Actress: "What she gave him was unconditional love, and when you give a person unconditional love, usually it means you blossom. So unconditional love is something we all should give and receive."
Interviewer: "That is a tall order."
Actress: "It is, and that is why I don't give it to everybody."
And then both women proceeded to laugh.
I was stunned. I still am. Here were two women who clearly did not understand what unconditional love truly was, nor how to give it. I do my best to give such love to ALL people, whether I know them or not. It is this kind of love that reminds us that all people need the gospel, that all people need salvation. To not extend such love to every person we meet would be catastrophic on an eternal scale.
Besides that very sobering aspect, I also find it baffling that they would think that giving such love is a difficult thing. The only thing I know of that would make unconditional love a "tall order" would be selfishness. Their laughter after declaring that they would not love everybody highlights this about their natures, and I find it deeply saddening. This is entertainment to people? Watching love be spoken of as if it were a limited and hard-won commodity? I find it very upsetting and unsettling.
A relevant verse that comes to mind is Luke 6:32, "If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them." Clearly this is true of those two women, and heaven forbid we be anything like them. Additionally, in the last part of verse 38, it says, "For what measure you use it will be measured back to you." May we heed that warning and extend unconditional love to all we meet!
Comfort in Death
Cross-posted from my Lupus blog.
Colossians 3:2-3 - "Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God."
It can be a real temptation to focus on my life here, on my daily struggles, on my daily pain. In some ways, it is nearly impossible to not have my thoughts dwell on my daily condition. This is why it is such a strong temptation to put all my effort, worry, and concern in the here and now.
However, this verse clearly speaks directly to that temptation of mine. As important and pressing as my pain and suffering may be, they are not of the utmost importance. My spiritual life far surpasses my physical life in urgency and importance. Even beyond this obvious application, I want to point out to myself that this verse says I have already died, a reminder of my death and burial in Christ through baptism, as is spoken of in Romans 6:3-4. I do flinch from dying of Lupus, but in truth the more important death has already happened. I chose my death, that of separating myself from sin, and that death carries so much more impact than any death that Lupus can dole out.
Further, this verse is a comfort, for it reassures me that the life I gained through my choice is safe in God's hands. Lupus cannot touch my eternal life, cannot ever take it from me. God holds that essence beyond the reach of pain, outside the realm of earthly fear. I never have to fret or worry that, among the other things Lupus has taken from me, I might lose my eternal comfort as well. God has hidden it away from the contamination of physical disease, and not even my emotional anguish can lessen or taint that final reward. "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us," Romans 8:18.
All God asks of me in return is that I follow his Word, that I obey his commands. I need to stop to consider exactly what extremes I would be willing to go to in order to be certain of comfort and the ending of pain. God has not asked those extremes of me, though he could have. As it says in 1 John 5:3, "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome." This is why I unflinchingly and eagerly strive to do his will. How could I not, when his kindness and mercy are so evident to me as I face Lupus?
Colossians 3:2-3 - "Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God."
It can be a real temptation to focus on my life here, on my daily struggles, on my daily pain. In some ways, it is nearly impossible to not have my thoughts dwell on my daily condition. This is why it is such a strong temptation to put all my effort, worry, and concern in the here and now.
However, this verse clearly speaks directly to that temptation of mine. As important and pressing as my pain and suffering may be, they are not of the utmost importance. My spiritual life far surpasses my physical life in urgency and importance. Even beyond this obvious application, I want to point out to myself that this verse says I have already died, a reminder of my death and burial in Christ through baptism, as is spoken of in Romans 6:3-4. I do flinch from dying of Lupus, but in truth the more important death has already happened. I chose my death, that of separating myself from sin, and that death carries so much more impact than any death that Lupus can dole out.
Further, this verse is a comfort, for it reassures me that the life I gained through my choice is safe in God's hands. Lupus cannot touch my eternal life, cannot ever take it from me. God holds that essence beyond the reach of pain, outside the realm of earthly fear. I never have to fret or worry that, among the other things Lupus has taken from me, I might lose my eternal comfort as well. God has hidden it away from the contamination of physical disease, and not even my emotional anguish can lessen or taint that final reward. "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us," Romans 8:18.
All God asks of me in return is that I follow his Word, that I obey his commands. I need to stop to consider exactly what extremes I would be willing to go to in order to be certain of comfort and the ending of pain. God has not asked those extremes of me, though he could have. As it says in 1 John 5:3, "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome." This is why I unflinchingly and eagerly strive to do his will. How could I not, when his kindness and mercy are so evident to me as I face Lupus?
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