It is easy to love those you love, and who love you back, you know what I mean? Tolkien wrote this lovely poem (which I coincidentally came across recently) for his own wedding:
"Lo! Young we are and yet have stood
like planted hearts in the great Sun
of Love so long (as two fair trees
in woodland or in open dale
stand utterly entwined and breathe
the airs and suck the very light
together) that we have become
as one, deep rooted in the soil
of Life and tangled in the sweet growth."
How marvelous, how wonderful... To be of one mind, growing and growing old together. To be of one mind is a rarity (and perhaps in reality relies too much on one party subsuming their identity into the other's), and growing together can take so many forms and directions that provide as many pitfalls as there are advantages. There is however one way that will stand us in good stead and that is to grow together in faith.
But as usual, I digress and that will be taken up another day in another post. Back to the commandment to love all.
There is also the love of those we like. Even if they (as well as those who love us back) drive us mad at times. Then there are those we don't like - and who might drive us mad most of the time. How should we love them?
Is it a different form of love? Are there things we would do for 'loved ones' that we wouldn't for the rest? How far do we go? That is the first big test for us. How do we truly obey Christ's commandment? This post was partly prompted by a recent incident during my weekend golf game.
There are two early riser groups at Richmond, and we 'compete' (fastest fingers first) to see who can get the first tee time. There was some friction in the past, but we've become friendly with all of them with the exception of one chap who is rather rude. During a recent game, my friend A saw him searching for a ball and went to help him. I was immediately struck with embarrassment for my (inner) hostility towards the chap as I knew that I would not have volunteered to help. My friend A who helped the guy, has also been the recipient of some aggression from him and yet, went to help without a second thought.
How far I am from being a good servant, a good testimony for Christ, if such a small act that would cost me nothing was so hard to contemplate. My friend A was a much better testimony for his faith than I. And what if it will cost me something? And my thought immediately goes to the ultimate sacrifice that Christ made for us and how it shames my pettiness. We rationalise it away at times in some circumstances - a beggar may not be genuine and we should not be fooled. A fellow brother and his wife have a different perspective in that they will always give because there might really be a need, and it does not really cost them much.
Which sort of still kicks the can down the road. What if someone has a real need that you can fulfill, but it will cost you. Give till it hurts, they say. Though the following verses seem to suggest that may not be advisable.
2 Corinthians 9:7-8 says "Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work."
Even if you say you would not love anyone differently (and come close to sainthood in the process), I wonder if such a person would feel differently inside, while performing those acts of "love". The verses above suggest that if we harbour some reluctance or feel a sense of obligation to help, it isn't really an act of love? I say this because the verse raises the question, "how do we decide in our heart what to give?"
I don't have the answer to that.
What I do know is that all we have, whether it be material possessions, good health and energy, or resources like time, come from Him as verse 8 tells us. And what is the purpose of being blessed in that way? For us to love. And if our hearts are disposed to loving and helping others, perhaps it becomes more and more instinctive such that we do not feel an obligation, we do not feel that we are giving up something for others - as the cliche goes, it is not something we give up if it was never ours to begin with. We are merely custodians of what His grace has blessed us with.
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