Posts Tagged: John 13:34
“The Perpetual Discomfort of Love”
“God is love.” “John, in 1 John 4:16)
“Love one another.” (Jesus, in John 13:34)
“Love your enemy.” (Jesus, in Matthew 5:44)
“Love as I have loved you.” (Jesus, in John 13:34)
“In all their afflictions, he [i.e., God] was afflicted.” (Isaiah 63:9)
“. . . the perpetual discomfort of what love requires.” (Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditation,
From the Center for Action and Contemplation
The last quote above is from a guest meditation from Richard Rohr’s website. Rohr asked a mom and dad to share their thoughts about parenting. Mom got to go first, which is as it should be. She spoke of “ . . . the perpetual discomfort of what love requires.”
Yes!
We tend to think that love is a wonderful, pleasurable, joyous thing. Sometimes, it is. More often, it is not.
Don’t get me wrong: Love is an adventure. However, as Bilbo Baggins said, “Adventures are nasty things that will make you late for dinner.” And who wants to be late for dinner?
Still, we need adventure in our lives—even if we don’t want them. Especially then.
In Isaiah 63:9, the prophet Isaiah says to people in exile, “God has gone through all the troubles that our ancestors went through.” The implication is that God is with the exiles, too. Apparently we have a God who is also willing to endure the perpetual discomfort of what love requires. Some theologians (of a certain philosophical bent) refer to God as “the unmoved Mover.” Perhaps they are right in a sense.
But in an even more profound sense, God is precisely the very moved Mover. It would seem that we have a God who has sought out the adventure of love, no matter how much perpetual discomfort there is for Him in that adventure.
It is the same for us. Love is an adventure, no matter the perpetual discomfort. However, if we go on the adventure, we will eventually discover that we have a Great Companion—the God who accompanied Israel in its painful quest, the same God who became flesh and dwelt among us.
DOWN TO EARTH BELIEVER
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- “Search Me!” October 27, 2024“Psa. 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24, English Standard Version) I am participating in a Bible study, and this is a prayer […]
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- “A Bathroom Prayer for Hurting Hands” September 11, 2024A week ago Sunday, my hands were hurting so badly at church that I went to the bathroom to run hot water over my hands. Arthritis perhaps, or carpal tunnel, or general orneriness—I don’t know why my hands hurt, but they do. They have for years. So, while I was running hot water over my […]
- “Waiting and Seeking” September 10, 2024“Lam. 3:19 ¶ Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! Lam. 3:20 My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. Lam. 3:21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: Lam. 3:22 ¶ The steadfast love of the LORD […]
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