We are Made for Love - July 15
Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 37:1-18; PM Psalm 37:19-42; 1 Samuel 20:24-42; Acts 13:1-12; Mark 2:23-3:6
I am guessing a few people looked over their shoulders or glanced in their rearview mirrors yesterday. An accident on I-459 had people taking a detour down Overton Road. This meant a line of cars from past my house to the church (over 1 mile long). Needing to get to church, there was no way I was going to drive so I hopped on my mountain bike in my bright red pants and my clericals (black shirt with a white Anglican collar) whizzing by cars on my way to Saint Stephen’s. I hope some people are asking questions, or at the very least smiling.
Well, this led me to have to ride my bike home for lunch, probably more than anything because I wanted my car and didn’t want to ride my bike home late on Wednesday evening. So, I pushed up the hills, and arrived home, sweaty and out of breath. I had lunch and then went to jump in my car, tired from a hot bike ride in pants, clerical collar, and a long sleeve shirt, only to step on one of the dog’s toys and twist my ankle, throwing my can of water, falling to the ground, and letting out some words that my daughter wasn’t too pleased to hear. As Anne got some ice for my foot, I said to her, “my feet aren’t made for stepping on stupid dog toys.” She chuckled and I hobbled to the couch to lay down.
We aren’t made for walking on dog toys, or Legos for that matter. Our bodies probably aren’t designed for spending more than a few moments outside in the sweltering humidity and heat of Alabama. Anthropologists claim that we were meant to be leisurely creatures and yet we find the most ridiculous things to occupy our boredom. I think the Olympics are so exciting because we witness humans doing what is nearly humanly impossible. We are motivated by humans doing what they weren’t designed to do.
I think there is an element of this understanding when Mark writes that humans weren’t made for Sabbath. Left to our devices, we seem to be best at living into two opposite possibilities: not working at all, or working so hard, we leave no room for growth and wellbeing. Both ends of the spectrum accentuate the same truth: we do know how to care for ourselves or do what is necessary for our own wellbeing. We need God’s law to remember why we were created, which is not about how hard we can work, or how much we can accomplish in a workday.
This is precisely we have God’s given instruction that even though the creative process is about life-generating work, even though, our purpose is to breathe life, creativity, and love into this world, rest is necessary for the cycle of life. We need a divine commandment that is counterintuitive to how we want to live to help us thrive and grow. We need Sabbath. It was made for us.
Which drives the next point of today’s Scripture: why break one of God’s rules if it was made for us? We might not have been made for walking on dog toys, or Legos, or riding bikes uphill in 100-degree heat, or any Olympic sport, which should beg the question – what were we made for? Simple answer: to love each other and God. Rules are rules. We have a rule that is to remind us of this. And these rules are meant to be broken if it is about our more divinely created purpose of caring for each other and pointing us more greatly to our love for God.
We were made to love. Maybe we were made for love too. Sometimes we need to be reminded so all that other stuff we think we are doing doesn’t overwhelm the greater reason we are here.
John+
Questions for Self-Reflection: What do you see your primary purpose in life to be? What do others see it to be? How much of your vocation or previous vocation is wrapped up in this? How can you grow in your capacity to love others?
Daily Challenge: Create one practice that will help you grow in your ability to love. Consider friends, neighbors, and strangers and pick one thing to do to deepen your ability to love one of these groups.