Disciples, Apostles, and Saints!
This week’s gospel includes one of the most famous lines in modern Christianity:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”
-John 3:16
It is also one of the most divisive, as its popularity rests on some difficult bits of theological conviction. It speaks to love and sacrifice. But is often pressed through a vision of individual gain and future reward.
This week, I’m writing a lot about love. And finding that I can’t only speak to what it is, but also address what it is not. I wish I didn’t have to. But love as a weapon can produce some mighty deep scars.
I think we do struggle to know how to love when the loving thing doesn’t feel right. When it isn’t good for them. Or it might feel wrong to us. I think we want to put love into a permanent box so we can always deploy it clearly and cleanly. I don’t think it works that way.
Maybe love doesn’t have to be the catch-all. And maybe 99% of the time we really just need to make sure love actually feels like love. And let the exceptions prove the rule, not define it.
With love,
Drew