August 18 Krum Star Article
"To be Known and Loved" or "Thorns or Flowers?"
There appears to be a basic
longing that inhabits every human heart: the longing to
be both fully known and fully loved. To have someone truly
see what is so often hidden behind the façade,
the employment, the finances, the clothes, the toys, the
make-up, the life presented to the public. Yet in that
knowing, to be offered love that says, “Yes, I see
you and I know you are flawed and struggling. I know you
often violate the very things you say you live for so
it would be right to call you a hypocrite. Still, I will
love you. And in that love, I will call you forth to your
full humanity.”
How rarely we receive or give
such love. To experience it means one must bare one’s
soul and risk rejection in the process. Hurt is almost
inevitable, so many choose lives of emotional invulnerability.
Most would rather wall themselves off than suffer yet
another deep disappointment.
To give it means one must be
willing to live with the messes of another, and not demand
that all be cleaned and orderly before love is given.
It seems an unrewarding way to love, with little given
in return.
Too often, the spoken words,
“I love you,” simply mean, “currently,
you meet my needs and make me feel good. If I no longer
feel good, then you must change so that I do.” Possibly
the most destructive phrase in the human lexicon is “all
I want is for someone to make me happy.” That kind
of pseudo-love brings death, not life.
Yet, I am convinced that in
the kingdom of heaven, that which Jesus often said is
all about us, there is a call to know and love. We are
called to be known and to be loved in ways that give life,
not death. We were created for this. This loves radically
makes over our lives, in ways that extreme makeover TV
shows can only pretend do. Come on Sunday and find out
more as we begin a series on Extreme Makeovers in the
spiritual life and will ask the question: do you want
thorns or flowers?
