Blog Archives
Age and Loving
When you have a lot of children, you end up with a lot of grands, great-grands, and a great-great grand when you are turning 87 years old. The world is so different now and at my age I’m limited in money, modern skills, knowledge, and strength to be of much help to any of them. Sometimes it simply breaks my heart and I sit and weep for them and for me too, because I love them all so much that I hurt for and with them and am overwhelmed by my helplessness. And they don’t really know how much I love them, because their lives take up all their time and strength.
I used to take my grands and the older great-grands to the Science Museum in Nashville every few weeks. So many good memories, but they don’t talk about those times, so I sometimes think they don’t remember them or know how much I love them. It breaks my heart.
But this week I got a few moments with Hannah who is my grandson Jake’s dearest love. And she told me that he talks about those trips to the museum often. I am shedding a few tears of happiness as I write this, because that means so much to me. Jake is specially tender hearted. He even cooked my favorite “Shrimp and Grits ” a couple of years ago at Christmas for me at our family gathering. Hannah is a lot like me I think, but I haven’t had much chance to get to know her because Christmases are wonderful, but chaotic with little one on one time.
Some of my children and grandchildren are divorced. And sometimes their estrangement means I have to choose between them and their ex’s whom I had come to love. Marriage is the hardest challenge we have and when they end nobody outside them can judge either partner because relationships are so complicated and difficult in different ways for different people. So ultimately I have had to choose whom I remain close to and frankly right or wrong, if forced to choose, my family will be my choice. Partly because right or wrong, I am part of why they are who they are. But I never stop caring or praying for those I came to love because they loved my child or grandchild.
The older we are the more people we love and the more we hurt and worry and feel helpless when they are hurting or struggling and lost.
The life, losses, and suffering of Jesus are the blueprint of a life of learning to love and the pain that goes with it.
I cannot imagine how anyone makes it without experiencing and clinging to that Love of God for each and every single one of us fleshed out in Jesus.
The words “I am weak, but He is strong.” sum up my life. Sometimes I lose touch with that Love that is the grace to persevere in loving when it’s so painful. But I know it’s there for me to reach out again and hug it close and draw strength even through tears so I can keep caring and loving even when I am helpless to help those I love who are hurting. I KNOW God loves them too, just as much as God loves Jesus!!!!!!!! But I also know the journey is hard and even knowing with all my mind, body and spirit that we are tenderly and unconditionally loved it can seem overwhelming. But I do believe that prayer makes us junior partners with God and no matter how helpless I may feel or be, I can still pray. And though my list is long and I struggle with forgetfulness, God knows who is in my heart and they are always in His.
Law is a Transitory Solution – 2 Corinthians 3:1-4:6
Reality: Law is a transitory solution. Law was needed for humanity to survive long enough to grow past survival of the fittest into living in community. (Sumerian Code 2100-2050 BC; Babylon’s Code of Hammurabi circa 1760 BC; Hebrew Torah 1330 – now; Twelve tables of Roman Law 450 BC)
But law, by its set in stone nature, becomes a tool of condemnation, a way of labeling and separating people even within a community. Law protects people and property, but does not nourish the spirit needed to create a community of love.
Paul says, “Only in Christ is the veil of condemnation (by the law) removed.” Without knowing in heart and mind that we are loved unconditionally, we have no way of getting free of the need to earn and prove our value, often at the expense of others. Since in reality “All fall short of perfection” (the glory of God), no matter what we accomplish or how good we become…..it is never enough. Generally, this leads to settling for believing that we are “better than” another person, another group, another race, another nationality, even another religion. Instead of recognizing our shared humanity, we see people as the “Other” in order to feel good about ourselves. (Pharisees)
But when freed by recognizing the glory (love) of God in Jesus, we begin to become transformed into His image by God’s Spirit within us.
When we acknowledge Jesus as both our Redeemer and as our Lord, we have found the source of grace to grow free to be servants of all. If we continue to go to that well of grace there is less and less need to outperform, have power over, label, or reject others in order to feel better about ourselves. Unfortunately, it’s a big “IF.”
We are all imperfect and all loved as we are. As we grow in our belief in that, we realize “That we are not competent in ourselves. Our competence comes from God.” We do not have to prove anything. Jesus proved with His life and death that we are of infinite value, as servants not only of God, but of ALL others. (Radical inclusivity)
The gospel displays the love (glory) of Christ, who is the image of God. Christ who did not cling to power or importance, but walked in our skin and learned from others, and grew in wisdom and openness to God within, but also accepted failure, rejection, pain, and death for our sake, so we would know we don’t have to earn, win, achieve, anything in our short span here on earth.
All we are called to do is to admit our limits, focus on God’s love for us expressed in Christ and pass it on in whatever ways God gives us.
Laughter: Carbonated Grace 