Tag: love

The Walk of Liberty

” For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  Galatians 5:14

The ability to walk is a significant milestone for any human being, expanding the vista of one’s surroundings and experiences; it is a gateway to physical freedom.

The word “walk” is found throughout the Bible.  I think of Psalm 1 describing the pathways that the righteous avoid, symbolized in terms of the various positions from walking, to standing, to sitting: a retrogression from mobility to immobility.

I think of Jesus commanding the paralytic to rise, take up his bed, and walk.  I think of the apostle Peter, instructing the man crippled from birth to arise and walk in the name of Jesus.

In Galatians 5, the apostle Paul talks about “walking in the Spirit”.  As I read this chapter, I perceive that the Christian walk involves the interdependencies of the virtues of faith, hope and love.  Paul mentions the words “standing”, “waiting” and “walking”.  It is faith that enables us to live in the Spirit, and to stand fast in the liberty given by Christ. It is also faith which builds up the “hope of righteousness.” Hope gives the grace to wait for desired ends. But it is love that makes faith work!  Think of how powerful love is: as faith and  hope enable  the first step, it is love that sustains the walk.

Love is the fulfillment of the law.  Walking in the Spirit, led by the Spirit, is walking in love.  It is living and stepping outside the boundaries of the law, into the realm of total liberty.  Walking in love demolishes the lusts and desires of the flesh and its pertinent bondages, yielding and turning into reality the very fruits of the hope of righteousness through faith.

Love never fails.

* photograph: by Hugo Romano

First Stroll

First Stroll

I remember butterflies
and spring grass
and ivy climbing to heights
of ivory towers, testing
perimeters of leaden grilles
against foggy glass.

We sat on the stony steps
of Winants Hall,
lingered for endless moments,
and after a while
walked up a hill where the bell
tower stood
still in time
as the train to Trenton whistled
down the railroad tracks.

by D.G. Vachal © 2012

*** photograph: Ivory Tower by spiritflare@Flickr

Philosophers, Temples and the “Unknown God”

“…the world through wisdom did not know God…” I Corinthians 1:21

Epicurean and Stoic philosophers brought Paul to Areopagus so he can expound on this “new doctrine” that he was preaching to the people of Athens. Along the way, Paul’s spirit was provoked within him when he saw the city teeming with temples, where people were worshipping idols.

From his observations of the city, Paul found a springboard from which to launch the Gospel Message:  “Men of Athens, I perceive in all things that you are very religious; for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: “TO THE UNKNOWN GOD”.  Acts 17:22-23. Paul explained to the people that this Unknown God was in reality the eternal and true God.

“The Unknown God” was the God the Greeks could not quite comprehend.  There were many other gods to worship: Zeus, Apollo, Aphrodite, Poseidon, to name a few,  yet  these gods were not sufficient for them.  There was this Other Being that needed to be worshipped, but they could not fathom or characterize this “Unknown God” the way they conceived the other gods.

Here was the paradox of it all.  Athens, the great seat of learning, where minds were directed and trained by reason and logic.  Athens, the mother of Socrates and Plato and Aristotle and a host of other magnificent minds, the birthing place of diverse philosophies where reason and logic were to reign supreme, was teeming with temples and idols.

Philosophy failed.  It only brought the Greeks to the place where they felt there was still an emptiness,  something lacking that cannot be explained by past nor prevailing philosophies:  there was this “Unknown God” that they felt they needed to worship. But who is this Being, and what is His nature?

The world through its wisdom cannot know God.

The mind of man is inadequate to know God.  As John Stott remarks, “Man is an insatiably inquisitive creature. His mind is so made that it cannot rest. It is always prying into the unknown. He pursues knowledge with restless energy. When man’s mind begins to concern itself with God, however, it is baffled. It gropes in the dark.”

This is not surprising, according to Stott, because God is infinite, while we are finite creatures. But God took the first step to reveal Himself to us.   Stott portrays the first four words of the Bible, “In the beginning God”, as a key to understanding the Bible as a whole: everything starts with God;  God  takes the first step.

God in His infinite love took the initiative of creation, of bringing forth light out of the darkness: “Let there be light” Genesis 1:3. He took the initiative of revelation, by revealing His Word through the prophets, and ultimately, through His Son, Jesus Christ, the Light of the world.  Finally He took the initiative of providing a way of salvation through Jesus Christ, to free us from our sins and to give us everlasting life.  (John Stott, Basic Christianity pp. 11-12)

What is this everlasting life?  In the words of Jesus, it is to know God:  “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. ” John 17:3

It is only through faith in Jesus Christ that we can know the only true God, to enter into a loving relationship with Him, to know Him as our very own Father.

*** photo: Temple of Poseidon by Chris Kotsiopoulus

Pink Porcelain Cups

Pink Porcelain Cups

I saw your face
devoid of air:
a crumpled raisin,
blue eyes squinting
at the light.

Your first utterance a memory
of joy,
for in the silence of my sorrow,
piercing cries,
abbreviated gasps for air
broke into sobs of song
filling empty cupboards
of my hungry heart.

I see your comely face
after years have formed
from still-life brushstrokes —
you speak,
I understand
as I did then
when you mumbled words
so long ago.

Showers cascade softly
upon delicate petals,
thirsty leaves;
You pour
our favorite tea
into pink porcelain cups.

by  D. G. Vachal © 2012

* photograph : Pink Painting by TC Davis @Flickr Commons

The First and Foremost Love

“And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.” Mark 12:30

Love is a command. Astounding.  How can love be a by-product of a command? A command to obey seems sensible, but a command to love?  I did not hear an explicit command to love my children when they were born;  love for them came naturally to me as breathing and blinking my eyes.

But the kind of love being “commanded” here goes beyond all dictionary definitions. It is a love that is to be practiced by all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, permeating every warp and woof of my being.  This is the first and foremost directive. Jesus says in Matthew 22:37 that “this is the first and great commandment.”  The great commandment.

Even more astounding when I consider Who gives this command: God Himself.  He commands me to love Him with every fiber, every imaginable strength I could muster, with all of my heart, soul and mind.  God commands me to love Him.

But even if I were not commanded, I do love God; however, the kind of love I possess has to go several steps further — to follow the commandment as directed, to love God with the totality of my being.    As God loves me, I am to love Him.

I believe the great commandment is about the quality of my love for God. The most important concern in my life, therefore, is my love relationship with God.

 

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