Feel the Love

The Luke 11:9 series - Can you feel the love?

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Photo credit: Greg Collins

   Just because you don't feel it, doesn't mean it does not exist ... let me walk you through a few very familiar scenarios.

Act 1 Scene 1: Your innocent childhood

    Think back to a time when you were 4 or 5 years old. Life was carefree and safe - there could be a thunderstorm outside but your parents sheltered you so well you had no fear at all. 

    You can get the same feeling and much more by believing in the Gospel. Trusting in Jesus means letting go of your anxieties and loving God and your neighbor, he will give you the grace and wisdom to meet life’s challenges, and you will experience an even more calming peace, one that the world cannot give.

Act 1 Scene 2: Your First Love. 

Picture the time when you first felt the rush of your first love. The feeling was unlike anything you've experienced before. Nothing, I mean nothing, prepared you for the overwhelming sensation that overloaded your senses at the very thought, sight, smile or touch of your crush. All the luminous poets, and all the world's love songs and movies, could not adequately capture the true essence of that first love. Only after you first felt that jolt of pure love, did it click. It was so much better than everything you were told.

Act 1 Scene 3: Holding Your Firstborn for the First Time. 

Most first-time parents go through a rollercoaster of emotions, unsure of what the future holds. All your fears dissipate when you first hold the newborn in your arms. The overwhelming sensation of love and gratitude that washes through your entire being, holding flesh of your flesh, bone of your bone - is unlike anything you've ever experienced before. Only after you feel this jolt of pure love, do you discover a reservoir of love in you that you never knew existed. It was so much more than you thought you were capable of.

First-time grandparents, too, experience an indescribable joy when holding their grandchildren, in their eyes the grandchild is perfect in every way, exceeding all their expectations.

Act 2 Scene 1: God's Love. 

Jesus tells us, "If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” [Luke 11:11-13]

If we, with all our foibles and flaws, are capable of pure love (in Act 1), imagine God's love for us. 

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. [John 3:16] 

God's love for us is the purest form of love! If only you believe first, the understanding will follow. This is counterintuitive to the human ego, which celebrates mankind's superior mental capabilities - seeking to understand before believing. 

Jesus cautions us that the Kingdom of Heaven is revealed to little children free from prejudices, disingenuous arguments and clever excuses. To behave like 'little children' we have to let go of vanities, comparisons, competitions, expectations, judgments, status, reputations and appearances.

Jesus said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight." [Luke 10:21-22]

And again, Jesus called children to Him saying, “Let the little children come to Me and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God." [Luke 18:16]

Jesus Gives True Rest

Jesus said, “Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” [Matthew 11:28-30]

By submitting yourself to God, you receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit enables you to overcome obstacles and to say and do things far beyond your expectations and capabilities ... consider the twelve Apostles, many common fishermen who received the Holy Spirit and went on fearlessly to preach the Gospel and save lives throughout the known world.

Or consider St Teresa of Calcutta, aka Mother Teresa, a 5 foot 2 inches tall, seemingly frail nun from Albania who changed the world by serving the poorest of the poor, starting in the slums of Calcutta, a squalid place, the last place to experience Christ. That, my friends, is the power of God's love manifested through the Holy Spirit. 

The devil knows that the easiest way to prevent the faithful from going to Heaven is to have them not believe in God. French writer Léon Bloy said, "The only real failure in life is not to be true to the best one knows." Sadly, the greatest tragedy of mankind is to refuse to believe in redemption paid by the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. 

“For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don't believe, no proof is sufficient.” ― Stuart Chase

“O that today you would listen to his voice! Harden not your hearts" [Psalm 95:7-8, Hebrews 4:7] Thomas Merton has this very incisive metaphor of sealing wax and our very soul, in his book, 'New Seeds of Contemplation': “Our Souls are like wax waiting for a seal. By themselves, souls have no special identity. Their destiny is to be softened and prepared in this life, by God’s will, to receive, at their death, the seal of their own degree of likeness to God in Christ. And this is what it means, among other things, to be judged by Christ. The wax that has melted in God’s will can easily receive the stamp of its identity, the truth of what it was meant to be. But the wax that is hard and dry and brittle and without love will not take the seal: for the hard seal, descending upon it, grinds it to powder. Therefore if you spend your life trying to escape from the heat of the fire that is meant to soften and prepare you to become your true self, and if you try to keep your substance from melting in the fire—as if your true identity were to be hard wax—the seal will fall upon you at last and crush you. You will not be able to take your own true name and countenance, and you will be destroyed by the event that was meant to be your fulfilment.” 

Suspend your disbelief, and feel the love!!

Footnote

This series of posts, which I call, 'The Luke 11:9 Series', is an attempt to verbalise various aspects of my Catholic faith as revealed in Scripture; topics include Destination Heaven; Golden ticket; God's Grace; Seeds of Love; Mary, did you know?; Feel the love of God; Love your neighbour as yourself, The Good Shepherd; Receive the Sacraments often; Eucharistic Adoration; Communion of Saints; How to pray; Role-playing Scripture; Mary, Help of Christians; Understanding suffering; Forgiveness; Gratitude, the life-changing attitude; Life after death; One Body of Christ; and Hearts ablaze. I sincerely hope it helps you in your faith journey. Always turn to the Holy Spirit when you search for answers to your questions, because Luke 11:9 says, "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you."