Love

I'm writing an essay on a diverse community called to live in unity, to genuinely love others – the Church as a visible representative of God. A couple things hit me. First, the fact that God would trust us to be his representatives, we're definitely not capable of representing deity. Finite humanity as a proxy for the infinite supernatural – we fall so incredibly short. So, in the most graceful move of all, God offers his love to us so that we can give that away. Supernatural, unfathomable love, overflowing our finite pockets. If we're tapped in to this extravagant love, it's almost like we have no choice but to give it away, it's going to be spilling all over anyway.
My second thought continues from that. What an honour it is to be trusted with love – trusted to give it away. What goes around, comes around. If we don't empty our pockets, we won't be able to fill them again. We would be losing the privilege to love.

I'm using U2's song 'One' in this essay. Specifically the line celebrating unity amidst diversity, “We’re one, but we’re not the same. We get to carry each other”. There's the privilege again, we GET to carry each other. I wept through the entire performance of the song with Mary J. Blige. The melody changes, the black woman in harmony with an Irish man, the heaviness of the empty seats, Mary just givin'er, the sweet simplicity of unison, the darkness of shadows, the humility of Bono kissing Mary's hand. After considering this topic so deeply, the impact of the performance hit me at the same level.

Often times, the Church is so far from representing God in all his love. I'm glad to have so many giving people around me who show love in all it's extravagance. I sure hope I do the same.