Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! Love!

Ahhhhhhhhh....February! Love is in the air! In fact, almost anywhere you turn there are cupids and hearts and red and pink. Commercials imply that unless you spend bucks on this candy or that jewelry or some special trip or restaurant or flowers, then you've missed the boat in showing that special someone you love them. And there's the annual ritual of sharing cards and gifts with family members and, occasionally, friends. Actually, there's nothing wrong in showing one's love in that way. However, I wonder what Jesus would say about our annual one-day celebration of love.

"But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." (Matthew 5:44) "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second is this, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:30-31) "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them." (Luke 6:32) "No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends" (John 15:13)

Even Paul makes a point of saying, "And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love." (1 Cor. 13:13) Perhaps the closest we get to this ideal with any regularity is the expectation that all elementary school students bring a Valentine's card to every member of their class, whether friend or foe. It kind of makes one wonder if we've gotten the emphasis all wrong. Instead of a one-day celebration of love annually, perhaps we should be having a year-long celebration of love, and not with cards, candy, jewelry, or gifts.

If we were to truly embrace loving God and neighbor and enemy and self in our day to day living, what effect might Christians have on the whole of society? In general, we don't seem to have a lot of experience sustaining such love for great lengths of time. Only half tongue-in-cheek, since there are usually four weeks in any month, what if we spent one week per month focusing on loving God, one week on loving self, one week on loving neighbor, and one week on loving enemy? That would give us some experience before reaching that most difficult task of loving one's enemies!

As I write this, it's amazing how difficult such an endeavor suddenly seems. It reshapes the way I think about encounters with those who come to the office seeking food, shelter, gas, utilities assistance, etc. I begin to wonder just what IS the most loving thing to do in any situation. Could the way I respond determine whether that person finally experiences the love of God in their life? Or could the most loving thing be to encourage that person to seek assistance through resources that address the cause rather than the symptom of their difficulties, instead of providing for their specific request? It reshapes the way I look at strangers and those who look at the issues we wrestle with in ways different from mine and those who believe in a faith different from mine. It even reshapes the way I look at myself; for if I think of myself as better than others or as less than others, I am reminded that Jesus has placed us as equals. We are to love neighbors AS ourselves, not better or worse than ourselves.

Yet tackling the task of living out love of God, neighbor, enemy, self on a day-to-day basis is what I believe we are called to do. Of course, we won't be perfect at it. We're human afterall. But we can make a commitment to attempt this challenging task. And there are plenty of opportunities in our path - if we're willing to open our hearts to the possibilities.

[All Scripture references are from the New Revised Standard Version.]