Thoughts on Love

"To love at all is to be vulnerable.

Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken.

If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal.

Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements.

Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness.

But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change.

It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable."

— C.S. Lewis

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I am a fan of Clive (I like to think that we would be on a first name basis)! The above quote is one that I have repeatedly stumbled upon, and each time I read it I am struck by the truth in these words. Loving means taking a risk, being vulnerable and making a choice.

When I moved to Mexico I had a choice to make. I could choose to fully invest my heart in my students, in the orphan children, and in the work that I am doing; or I could choose to go about life with a guarded heart, getting the work done while distancing myself from the pain and brokenness that I see all around me. To be honest, some days it feels so much easier to let myself become numb to the poverty and pain so that I can get through the day without becoming a blubbering mess. But at the end of the day, I must allow myself to feel, so that my heart can be changed, softened, and open to loving people the way that God loves them. I have not even begun to grasp the depth of love that God has for us, but it is my prayer that I will allow God to open my heart to seeing glimpses of it as I begin to have a greater love for those around me.

"For this reason, I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-- that you may be filled to the measure of the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to HIM BE GLORY in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever. Amen."

~Ephesians 3:14-21~

The second paragraph of that passage is one of my favorite passages in the Bible! I love the promise that God has more in store for us than we could ever ask or imagine! That just blows my mind! I can't tell you how many times I have read that second paragraph, but today, seeing it with the words that come before it, I realize that it is through experiencing the width, height and depth of the love of God that we begin to more fully understand his love. We need to love like he loves, as painful and heartbreaking as it may be at times, in order to "be filled to the measure of the fullness of God". And once we are living lives of fullness in God, then we will begin to experience an abundant life of experiencing the power and glory of God in ways that we could have never imagined! Wow! So where does an abundant life begin? With love! And this love is not guaranteed to be easy or pain-free, because the purpose of loving others with a radical love is not to make us feel good, but to bring glory and honor to God! How's that for a Valentine's Day message? :)

Love from across the miles,

Jes