LOVE: “Making it Easier for People to be Good”
by Norm Lowry
Most of us need to have the status quo shaken now and then, leaving us off balance and askew, feeling alienated for a while from our usual unquestioned loyalties. In this uncomfortable space, we can finally recognize the much larger kingdom of God….This pattern of temporary falling apart precedes every transition to a new level of faith, hope and love. If one is not prepared to live in temporary chaos and hold the necessary anxiety that chaos entails one never moves into a bigger world. —Richard Rohr
In our society we talk a lot about love. Most of us think about love in terms of power; as “the capacity or ability to accomplish something” (Webster’s). We want to get. We want to be forceful and effective in our capacity to change things to make life work in our favor. We want to be satisfied and fulfilled in love. We think these things and desire for them to be true, yet demographically, our society is one of the world’s least satisfied and happy. So what’s at issue? The answer is simple, though not necessarily easy. Love is certainly about power, also a basic need. But is love power to get or power to give?
To me, love is about power as servanthood. It’s about giving with no attachment to getting. It’s about force as a self-giving energy and effectiveness as an cooperative stance weighted on behalf of others. It’s about believing as we did as children, before we were disappointed or wounded, that self-giving love “is the secret of the past of all life, the sina qua non, and our survival as a race depends on learning that is the secret of our future” (John Stoner). Simply put, love is about “making it easier for people to be good.”
From the Bible’s Jesus, I’ve learned my life’s greatest lessons about love. My top three love lessons are from Matthew 5 (THE MESSAGE).
First, live and love “at the end of your rope.” The love we’re all looking for is only to be found at the end of ourselves. Think of all the relationships you’ve had. The ones we remember most are the ones that cost us most. Jesus reminds us of the blessings of this costly love, “with less of you there is more of God and his rule.”
Second, live and love “content with just who you are—no more, no less.” The love we’re all looking for is filled with simple humility, as modeled by birds and wildflowers. Birds trust for provision and wildflowers’ inherent beauty flows from a loving parent-God who sees to all the birds and flowers, most of whom no human eyes will ever see. Jesus reminds us of the blessings of this humble love that exists only in “the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought or sold.”
Third, live and love to “get your inside world—your mind heart—put right.” The love we’re all looking for is embedded in deeply sound tradition. It doesn’t purpose violence. It doesn’t take undue advantage. It loves its enemies. It thinks the best even of the worst. It grows up. Jesus reminds us of the blessings of this bright love that will “see God in the outside world.”
I Corinthians 14:1 (THE MESSAGE) says, “Go after a life of love as if your life depended on it—because it does.” This is how we learn to live so deeply that we thrive only in “making it easier for people to be good” (Dorothy Day).
8/24/16
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