As we journey through Easter, I keep thinking about the love that God has for us. I mean, just look at everything God does to love us, and how he keeps coming back to us, even when we might try to run away from him. This is something we clearly see throughout scripture, and it is something we see in our own lives as well.
If I named this kind of love, I would call it "reckless love." For God comes to us, loves us, with reckless abandon. God doesn't let the human emotion of pride get in the way. He doesn't let our desires for control or power get in the way. He doesn't let our pushing away from him get in the way. Instead, he just continues to love us, come to us, and forgive us. This kind of reckless love always amazes me.
In seminary I had a professor who, with his wife, adopted a child. As the child grew up, he pushed against the adopted parents in many ways. One day, the professor came home and as he opened the door he noticed that the carpet was very wet. He rushed through the huose to try and find the leak that was soaking his floors. As he stepped into the living room he saw his son standing there, with a water hose in his hands, watering the carpet. The professor turned off the water and walked up to his son. The son looked at the father and said, "I guess I am in big trouble now." The father knelt down in front of the son and said, "You are my son. I love you. Nothing you ever do will change that. You will always be my son. I will always be your father. You will always be loved by me."
God loves us so recklessly that no matter what we do, no matter where we go, he will love us. He demonstrated this on the cross and as he came out of the tomb. He promises the same to you - you will always be his child, he will always be your God - and you will always be loved.
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Since I had completed the book I took with me on my Orlando trip, even before I landed there, I needed to purchase another book for the return home trip.
I had chosen John Grisham's latest book, "The Broker," and was headed toward the check-out counter, when I passed a book entitled, "The Five People You Meet in Heaven," by Mitch Albom. After I read the jacket information, I felt that THIS was the book I was meant to read, and I took the Grisham book back to its shelf.
As it turned out, the plane which was to carry me to O'Hare was delayed, so I had an additional hour to wait for my flight. I was half through the book, even before the plane arrived and completed it before reaching Chicago.
The main character, Eddie, doesn't feel his life mattered much. Upon his death, he is taken back, like Ebeneezer Scrooge in Dickens' Christmas Carol, to examine his life and the people he touched, and was touched by.
Some of the five people he meets in heaven Eddie remembers. Others were touched by him, or he by them, without his even being aware of it. How true to life. We never know whether what we say or do has an effect on others.
So, it is important, to always be conscious of doing good, or at least remaining aware enough so that we do as little harm as possible. Sometimes bad things happen, and there is no way for us to avoid it. Then it is in God's hands. He has a plan, and we have to accept that He knows how this fits into the grand scheme of things.
We need to have faith in a beneficent God. I feel so sad for those who have no faith. How powerless and fearful they must feel.
"God Don't Make No Junk," announced a poster I used to have in my classroom. The picture was of a 'typical teen,' with orange hair, baggy jeans and head phones on his head. You could tell he was 'jivin' and 'in the groove' by his stance and his closed eyes. The kids liked the poster, because it made a statement supporting who they were.
I liked it for a couple of reasons. One, it drew attention by its incorrect grammar and it was fun for me to have the students point this out to me, (They seemed sure I would NEVER have put it up, if I had noticed it). Two, it pictured the stereotypical teen, and allowed for discussion of visual impressions and what that means to our own presence in the world. The poster was a great starting point for many discussions. Different discussions, different days, depending on what the kids were thinking about. The nature of the poster let the kids know it was "safe" to talk in my classroom, that I was "one of the good guys."
So, "Yes, Virginia, there is a God." And that God has His hand on your pulse, is aware of your presence in His creation, and you do matter.
My prayer today is that we take time to consider those who have impacted our lives, give thanks for their presence in our lives, and pray that God leads us down paths which positively affect others.
When I read "The Five People You Meet in Heaven," it made me realize that one will never know the impact they may have on someone by what they say or do. I try to keep this in mind when talking to people or saying hello to a stranger, etc.
Also, the people I think have been most important to me or most influential in my life may not even be the ones that had the most impact; it may be the stranger I said hello to or someone that said hello to me.
I need to remember to love more "recklessly," to share my love of the Lord and my faith with "reckless" abandon. How else will the Word get spread?
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