God.Is.Love

November 5, 2013

Monday’s High			72
Monday’s Low			49
Days in Las Cruces			134
Steps/Miles walked June 2013(in Las Cruces)		73,509	36.8
Steps/Miles walked July 2013		215,276	107.64
Steps/Miles walked August 2013		217,546	108.77
Steps/Miles walked September 2013		251,186	125.6
Steps/Miles walked October 2013		300,043	150.0
Steps/Miles walked Monday		8,572	4.3
Total Steps/Miles walked in Las Cruces		1,095,956	548.0

Walking the girls Monday morning, I realized it was just one of those mornings. Everything was right in the world for those brief moments. I stood in the green, the girls snuffling about in the grass, collecting the calling cards of all the critters who had visited during the night. Because of the end of Daylight Savings Time, the sun had already turned the sky a delightful shade of blue. Some puffs of gray and white clouds drifted here and there. To the east, the grand Organ Mountains rose over the city of Las Cruces. And shades of red and melon and peach painted the sky above them. Even the temperature was pleasant, though in the low to mid 40s.

We left the park, heading north on Happy Trails, the road ahead was empty of cars and people alike. And so, feeling this tremendous pressure in my heart, I did what I do when I feel the way I did. I sang (quietly, of course).

Oh Lord, my God. When I in awesome wonder
Consider all the works your hands have made;
I see the stars; I hear the rolling thunder;
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee.
How GREAT Thou art, How great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee.
How GREAT Thou art, How great Thou art!

Rounding the corner on to Happy Trails South, I decided to ask my friend, Jesus, along for the walk. And so the two of us walked together for a time in silence, enjoying each others company, delighting in the play of Nikki and Ixchel. Toward the end of Happy Trail South, where it intersects Good Times Drive (yes, these really are names of streets in my community; there is also Day Dreamer Dr, O’Joy Pl, No Problem Dr, and Easy Living Dr) Jesus and I struck up a conversation, and the title for today’s (Tuesday’s) blog post came to mind.

“Thank you, Jesus, for walking with me this morning.”

“We’re not done, yet!”

“No, but I still have to thank you now. I’m feeling that pressure in my heart again.”

“And just what is that pressure from?”

“It’s from You. Knowing you walk with me.” I giggled, “and talk with me.”

“Yes, I’m your friend… and much much more.”

“I know, that’s why I feel the pressure,” He looked at me, questioning that.

“You’re so much more. You’re love. Of course, that’s well established!”

“Not everyone knows that, you know.”

“I know. I keep remembering that time all those years ago when you demonstrated it.”

“So, I know, Eric, that you have a title running around in your mind. Care to explain it?”

“Sure. It’s like the exercises my English teacher had us do in grade school… and in High School, too. The teacher would give us a sentence. We had to write it out, emphasising a different word each time we wrote it. So, the title here is like ‘GOD is love. God IS love. God is LOVE.’ Or, like this: ‘God is. Love.'”

“An interesting observation. What is inspiring this thought?

“It’s that memory I mentioned. That one, and the memories of all the times You reveal the same thing to me.”

“Why not tell me again, just so I can hear it. Hearing it makes me happy. Hearing it lets me know you really got it, ya know?” He smiled at that.

“Well, you know I was preaching that message about the Amazon… I don’t think it was going too well. I knew what I wanted to say, what I wanted to convey, but somehow I wasn’t quite connecting the concept.”

“What was the concept?”

“You know! That the power of Your love is so immense! I told them about that image, that the Amazon River is by volume the largest river in the world, and that imagining that river rushing down to water one little rose…”

“But the words of that concept was above imagining, wasn’t it? Do you know why?”

“Not really. I mean, not at that time, but I think maybe I do know, now.”

“And…”

“I couldn’t describe it, couldn’t get the connection, because I was incapable of comprehending the depth of it myself. I hadn’t experienced it like that myself. I had book knowledge. I’d read the theologians and teachers of the church, teachers who likewise probably only ‘knew’ the depth of Your love from study, on a head level.”

“Yeah, you got it, alright. So what happened?”

“You corrected my lack. Standing there that day, trying to convey to my congregation, well, not MY congregation, really… my friends… how deeply You loved them, and seeing blank faces, and lack of comprehension… all of a sudden…”

“Yes?”

“You SHOWED me how much You love them. You filled my heart with a love so profound, that as I looked around that room at the thirty or forty gathered there, I KNEW what I was feeling was Your love for each of them. Each face glowed, and as my eyes fell on each of them, I felt YOUR love for them fill my heart. I thought it was going to kill me, it was so overpowering!”

“Yeah… that’s how I feel sometimes, you know. I look on each of the billions of faces here and the power of my own love for each one of them nearly overwhelms me! Any idea what that memory, those feelings, have to do with your title?”

“I think so. It’s really the last part. ‘God is. Love.’ One reason there are so many who do not know or comprehend Your love, and why some of them refuse to believe in You, or just no longer know is… those of us who KNOW You, who know Your Love keep it to ourselves. Or worse…”

“Worse?”

“Worse… some of us try to beat an understanding of You and Your Love into others! In spite of the fact that love of ANY kind cannot be coerced in others.”

“People who know Me often make the mistake of thinking that coercion is the only way to convince others to know Me as well. So, about how you started this conversation.”

“What about it?”

“You didn’t ask ‘Your friend, Jesus’ along for the walk… what did you say? I liked the words, why not share all of them?”

“?”

“Come on, you know…” he seemed disappointed.

I laughed, “Yeah, I know. I said, ‘Jesus, my friend and Lord and Savior… My brother and LOVER, walk with me for a while. Let me feel your presence this day, especially on my walk.'”

“Yes. Those words. I love hearing them. Now, go write! And more importantly… Go LOVE!”

DAILY GRATITUDE

Appropriately enough, today I am grateful for speech. Mine specifically. I am grateful that I am able to communicate my thoughts and feelings to those around me. That I can do so with pride! I’m grateful that, when moved to do so, I can sing a song, even if quietly, such as “How Great Thou Art!” I daily express myself through my writing, and am improving in that, I think. But it’s important for me to be able not only to hear those around me, but to also be able to express myself.

I know some who have heard me sing. They, I am sure, would be grateful if I were to LOSE my speech.

PRAYER INTENTIONS

“For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” — Jeremiah 29:11

I’m foregoing the “Prayer Intention tiles” that I have spoken of over the past weeks today.

Instead, I’m focusing my prayer request on God’s guidance. The verse I’ve quoted, Jer. 29:11, has spoken to me for over ten years, actually, since about the same time as I first heard of the Prayer of Jabez. I believe this. I have seen the fruits of this all these years in my life.

I’m hoping that one of two prospects pan out this week. It would entail taking on a management position in a retail setting, in three small stores nearby.