Lent Day 12: LOVE

Recite the Primo Credo Today in the Morning and in the Evening:

Hear, O Israel:

the Lord our God, the Lord is one;

you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,

and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.

The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

There is no other commandment greater than these.

~Mark 12:29-31

Today, on the Twelfth Day of Lent, we continue to discuss the Primo Credo, a variation of the Hebrew Shema Yisrael that Jesus himself told us was the bedrock of our entire belief system.

We have been meditating on it now for eleven + days (today is day twelve. and we've had two Sundays that don't 'count' in there, as well) and will continue to do so until Resurrection (Easter) Sunday.

We have been reciting it every morning and every evening, as faithful Followers of YHWH have been doing for thousands of years, and today, we’re moving back toward talking about the key focus of this season for us: the Primo Credo and the Shema Yisrael.

The focus of our meditation will be on LOVE. What does love mean in the context of the Primo Credo? This is a multi-faceted answer, but we will start with the first kind of love that we experience when we begin a relationship with The Lord.

Emotional…Passionate…Life-changing…All-encompassing…

The beginnings of relationships are often hallmarked by this kind of crazy, overpowering passion. The lover cannot keep from talking about and thinking about the object of their affection. No matter what they are doing, their thoughts are on one thing…This is the state of heart God wants us to model with regard to loving Him-that of an Ardent Lover. This is reflected in today’s scripture passage.

Today’s Scripture Passage:

Impress them on your children.

Talk about them when you sit at home

 and when you walk along the road,

when you lie down

and when you get up.

Deuteronomy 6:7

(New International Version)

The medieval Jewish philosopher Maimonides, wrote that the language of the first paragraph of the Shema is best understood through the near-universal experience of falling in love, the author sees the remaining two paragraphs as the love that follows "falling in love."

"What is the love of God that is appropriate?

It is to love God with an exceedingly strong love until one's soul is tied to the love of God.

One should be in a continuous rapture, like a person who is 'lovesick,'

whose thoughts cannot turn from his love for a particular woman.

He is preoccupied with her at all times, whether he is sitting or standing,

 whether he is eating or drinking.

Even more intense should the love of God be in the hearts of those who love him,

possessing them always as we are commanded

'with all your heart and with all your soul' (Deuteronomy 6:5).

This is what Solomon expressed allegorically 'for I am sick with love' (Song of Songs 2:5),

 and indeed, the entire Song of Songs is a parable for this concept."

-Maimonides, Laws of Repentance, 10:3

Today, may your thoughts be on cultivating a relationship with God that is characterized by this kind of passionate, ardent love.

Lent Day 38: LOVE

Maundy Thursday

Blessed Maundy Thursday! The word "maundy" comes from Middle English and French and means "command". And so today, on the day where Jesus had his Last Supper and commanded his followers to always remember him, may we reflect on the idea that he bore the darkness of the cross so that we could step out into the light and be the adopted Children of Light.

Let us use this day to reflect on the words of the Apostle John:

John 13:34-35 (Contemporary English Version)
But I am giving you a new command. You must love each other, just as I have loved you. If you love each other, everyone will know that you are my disciples.

In these verses he expounded upon Jesus’ command, and described what it means to be His disciples.

May you love as you are loved...
may others know you are a disciple by your love...

Valentine's Day Missional Musings

As Valentine’s Day approaches, the television commercials, newspaper ads and mailbox flyers seem to be becoming increasingly insistent. Demanding, even.

I’ve been becoming increasingly convicted over the past several years with regard to our culture’s hyper-consumerism, and so perhaps I am more sensitive to it- but am I right? Is it out of control, or what?

I am a hopeless romantic, so it seems kind of funny that I, of all people, would be writing this piece, but here I am- thinking these ‘crazy’ thoughts, nonetheless.

So, it seems that as I am being transformed from glory to glory, so are my thoughts with regard to this revered “holiday.” I want any new response that I form to be consistent with my Christian values, but in order to do this; I want to make sure that my values are those of authentic, historic Christianity rather than the things we modern American Christians co-mingle with Christianity (prosperity, consumerism, capitalism, etc.)

And so, I go back to St. Valentine, himself. Who was he? What did he do? What did he stand for? How did he live out the gospel in his time as an example to the people of his day?

What we know of St. Valentine remains elusive, at best. It seems there may have been more that one Valentine, and for this reason, his ‘feast day’ in the Roman Catholic Church was removed from the Catholic Calendar of Saints.

The story I find most compelling and romantic is found in a book called the Legenda Aurea, written by Jacobus de Voragine around 1260 A.D. in the Middle Ages. In it is this very brief account of our beloved St. Valentine:

Valentinus was a priest and physician in third century Rome (the 200’s). According to church tradition, he was known for performing acts of compassion, mercy, and kindness amongst the poor. He took seriously Jesus’ admonition to care for and heal the sick, and as a physician, this was a focus of his Christian ministry.

During the reign of Roman Emperor Claudius Gothicus, Christians were being persecuted and he was arrested for practicing Christianity by Claudius and personally handed over to the magistrate. While in custody, he healed the adopted daughter of the magistrate of blindness. As a result, the entire family of the magistrate was converted to Christianity (as were many others) while Valentinus was imprisoned. This enraged the Emperor Claudius, who ordered his immediate execution. Prior to the sentence being carried out, legend tells us that Claudius demanded a retraction/denial of Christ from the unfortunate physician. Valentinus, true to his name (‘one of valor’), refused to deny Christ and was beheaded on February 14, 280.

The feast day of St. Valentine commemorates his life of selfless service, Christian charity (love) and ministry to those in need. Interestingly, romantic love was not incorporated into the legend until much later in around the 14th century (1300’s) by people such as Geoffrey Chaucer.

Whether the above account is 100% factual is less important than recognizing that this information is true in the sense that the story it tells is much more in line with what we understand of Christianity and Christian love than the more recent Hallmark™ Greeting Cards’ version. Christian love is not the same as romantic love, at its best- it supersedes romantic love in that Christian love is unconditional, unapologetic, and unfailing.

We all have learned that the loved practiced by the members of the early Christian church was agape, a sacrificial act of will first demonstrated by God to us (God’s love toward us is known as hesed love, or loving-kindness- and denotes a covenantal, pursuing love) and reciprocated by us to God, and then also offered to our neighbors (both friend and enemy) as a result of an outpouring of our gratitude toward God for loving us. Agape is another word for “love” but it is not indicative of emotion as much as it is a word describing an act of will or an intentional way of behaving toward others. Jesus describes the greatest form of love as being one that is sacrificial to the point of dying for another if need be (John 15:13). What’s more, He demonstrated this highest form of love to us, even though we didn’t deserve it (Romans 5:8).

Romantic love can be a wonderful thing, and certainly has its place, but since it can lead to irrational, irresponsible and idolatrous behavior we need to remain cognizant that it is but one of the many ways in which we are capable of loving. Additionally, we need to be aware that it is not one of the ways that we are commanded to love. Yet, our missional call in this regard is clear- offering sacrificial love is an expectation of our call Philippians 2:5-9 (esp v. 5)

So…What would happen if we Christians decided to expropriate Valentine’s Day- I mean, it was ours in the first place, after all anyway- wasn’t it? Did you know that According to the National Retail Federation’s 2010 Valentine’s Day Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, couples will spend an average of $63.34 on gifts on each other, (it was $67.22 in 2009). The average person will shell out $103.00 on traditional Valentine’s Day merchandise this year ($102.50 in 2009). Total holiday spending is expected to reach $14.1 billion.*

What can we do within our spheres of influence/communities to promote this more accurate and uniquely Christian understanding of the day? An even better question is this- What would happen if we decided to use that day, or the season (like at Christmastide) to be agents of God’s hesed love. What would happen if we could re-direct even 10% of that money toward showing God’s love…Christian love to the 30,000 children who starve to death every day on this planet?

So I wonder…Can we find a way to enjoy this holiday of love in a way that is both fun and which also rightly honors the man for which the day is named?

*http://www.nrf.com/modules.php?name=News&op=viewlive&sp_id=887