I had the day off from work today, actually all summer, Fridays are mine – all mine – to do with what I please. And today I was pleased to have breakfast with a good friend and then chill at home and watch the Lord of the Rings for the umpteenth time. With no homework, papers, books weighing heavily on my conscience, I felt very relaxed. It was a peaceful and badly needed day of rest.
I love those movies. (I haven’t read the books, which I know is a very great scandal for true Tolkien fans…but I did read The Hobbit.) Anyway, I always like to watch the special features where you get to see the behind the scenes interviews. Some might argue that I’m just hoping to get another look at Orlando Bloom, and on some level that might be true, but today I opted to watch the actual film too. And for some reason today, I kept noticing how often people in the movie willingly put themselves in harm’s way. They risk life and limb not just for their close friends, but for their countrymen and people of other cultures. They’re all in it together, the dwarves, the hobbits, the elves and the men.
Maybe I focused in on it because my friend Sara and I talked about what it means to love God and came to the conclusion that we can do that best by loving one another. Our fellow human beings, the people God puts in our path, are his gift to us, a way for us to touch him, to serve him, to be near him. I’m not saying that people are God – that’s not it at all. It’s just that I don’t think it is possible to really know God apart from interacting with others. He is the only one like him. We all possess different pieces of his personality, tainted by our sin, but reflective of his image. But others have different pieces, ones we don’t have, ones we need in order to more fully understand God. We’re created for this community, not to stand around waiting for something better to love and become involved with.
I think God is changing my misconceptions about the nature of the human heart. We have an amazing amount of control over the choices our hearts make. I know we don’t like to admit it, but it’s true. Love is a choice and an action, not a feeling. We cheapen it somehow when we relegate it to emotionhood and back away slowly as if it is too fragile for real, corporeal interaction. But the truth is, I want nothing less from and for myself than active, intentional love that is not afraid of risk, pain, and a little heartache.
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i'm jenn. i'm 30 years old and still trying to figure out what i want to be when i grow up. i'm open to suggestions...
3 comments:
Miss Jen, I am creatively using my time in trying to keep my math homework far from my reach. I opted to read your blog instead. Good thinking on my part. I believe C.S. Lewis addresses this very belief of by knowing different people we get to know various aspects of God. Lewis may say it differently and this is just how I have interpeted it---we have certian friend's in our lives that we respond to...Friend A brings this out in us, Friend B brings something else out in us, Friend C brings another thing out in us. If Friend C and A are hanging out with you, neither of them will get to know the part that Friend B brings out in you when you are with that person. So I'll take this very concept and stretch it around to how we discover and engage in God. We need these people to act as prisms to ourselves and to Him. And to help others see sides of themselves we may never get to see if it weren't for all of the above. Amen.
well said...strange you should mention CS Lewis. I'm so fond of his writing, his life is a very sad story in many ways, but he is such an encouragement to me. I just bought "Mere Christianity" and have decided to tackle it at last...it's been a while since the last time I tried. I'll let you know how it goes. Good luck with the math (yikes)!
jenn, let me know how you feel about mere christianity. i've attempted it a couple of times, and each time, i've settled instead to proclaim myself "unteachable" and pick up the nearest issue of teen people. i learned a lot about dawson's creek in those days. but now that the show's over, i might need to consider mere christianity again. or maybe, maybe you could just teach it to me after you're done? you're good at breaking big things down into bite size pieces. give me the Jenn Billingsley cliff notes version when you get a chance, ok?
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