Love Never Fails
Douglas Wood, in the children's book "The Old Turtle and the Broken Truth," tells a story that begins with once upon a time in a beautiful faraway land, there fell a truth. But as it fell, it broke into two halves. One of the pieces blazed off through the night sky, and the other fell to the earth in the beautiful land.
After a long time, someone found the broken truth.
On it was written, "You are loved." So the man held it carefully, and the truth sparkled just for him and whispered its message just for him. It made him feel special. And he believed it.
The man took the truth to his people - those who dressed, lived, and looked like him. After a while, the broken truth is all the people like him heard. It made them feel good, proud, and superior. "You are loved" became their possession.
Other people seemed less and less, and no one cared for them. They were ignored, neglected, looked down upon, and forced out of the land. And the world became an unhappy place.
One day a little girl went on a long journey deep into the forest and met an Old Turtle. She told the turtle, "Where I live, the earth is sore, and the people suffer. People say it has always been this way and will never change. Can it change, Old Turtle? Can we change it?"
The Old Turtle replied, "The world you describe is not the world that has always been." The Old Turtle told the little girl how the people had found the broken truth and the suffering it caused. But it was only broken truth.
The Old Turtle gives the little girl the rest of the truth and tells her to take it back to her world. The half that had caused so much pain says, "You are loved." The other half says, "And so are they!" When put together, it is the whole truth.
You are loved. And so are they. It is a truth that goes together. And yet, one that we quickly forget.
I understand the story of the Good Samaritan as Jesus telling us that our neighbor is every human being we encounter. Our neighbors are not just our favorites. For Jesus, there are no walls, barriers, labels, or categories. A neighbor is anyone with a need, and loving our neighbor means acting on the needs we see around us.
"Who is my neighbor?" According to Jesus, he may look different than us, believe differently than us, and live his life differently. But our neighbor is someone, anyone, in need.
In the story, the Samaritan saw the half-beaten-to-death man lying in a ditch. He looked at him. He felt some pity. But it was what he did next that mattered. It was the next act that set him apart from the others. Jesus says, "He went to him."
Loving neighbor means turning love into a verb. It means to do love. It means showing love by crossing the street and being present. It is remembering the two sides of the truth: you are loved. And so are they!
Jamey
Check out this beautiful video of an original song based on 1 Corinthians 13 by my friends Donna Weaver, Michelle Alexander, and Johnny Summers.
Make sure to click the link and follow them on Youtube to keep up with new material.
If love never fails, how will you show love this week? How will you cross the street and be present with someone in need?
One way to show love is to consider sharing this newsletter with others. It will help me tremendously in getting the word out.