Love is not Average, Loneliness is.

For a couple of weeks now I have been working in a preschool/daycare owned and operated by my college known as Campus Kinderhaus.  It's been an incredible experience so far hanging out with four, five and six year old kids and seeing the genuine smiles on their faces when they make booby traps with wooden blocks.  One of their "assignments" for a few minutes was to write down why they loved a teacher in their class and to draw/color something that represented that reason.  Some kids wrote down that they loved their teacher because they liked them or that the teacher like flowers.  They would then draw flowers like daisies, sunflowers and roses.  Some of you reading this may think that this is the cutest thing in the world and who would disagree?  It's wonderful to think about the funny answers that these kids gave but adults aren't too far off with their answers either.  We love our spouses for money, for sex, for looks, for fame, for feelings, for security, for religious reasons, for cultural reasons, for personal reasons, and for anything else you can think of.  Not all are bad or good but some of the answers seem rather silly don't you think?  Why not love because of love?

I mean, we see it in movies, television shows, the tabloids on the shelves of grocery stores and the billboards on every major highway.  We hear it among the social groups of young and old, songs from every generation and from those who played the game...and lost.  We read about it in romantic novels, autobiographies and even in newspapers.  Love has taken the form of every conversation, social media tool, song lyric, and video in our culture today.  Marriages have been on the brink of divorce because it was MIA (Missing in Action)  Relationships have been broken and ended because of the lack of knowledge of how to sustain it.      Churches have been named fake or hypocritical because of their lack of application of this word.  Four letter and one syllable - this is the word that has rocked the world from the highest of heights to the depths of the seas.  For thousands of years, we can still find ways to try to reinvent this word into a sentence, a phrase, a culture, a principle, a moral dilemma, an ethical decision, a choice, an obligation, a movie, an article, a song, a book, etc.  I know that this is becoming a little repetitious but bear with me.

One things stands clear to me when I think about this word "love".  I strongly believe with all of my heart that love is the most powerful force to exist and preexist.  Think about it.  Humans are relational are we not?  In a past study about the importance of contact, there was an experiment done with a baby monkey and two robotic representations of its mother.  One "mother" was simply metal but had a bottle of milk.  The other "mother" had warm fur over it's metal exterior.  When the monkey got extremely hungry, who did it go to first?  It went to the second mother.  As the scientist suggested, the monkey would choose physical contact with the warm robot mother over the cold one with the milk.  It wasn't until the monkey couldn't handle it anymore that it went to the robot with the milk to maintain its existence.

Interesting isn't it?  The monkey chose on the brink of starvation, warmth and comfort over physical needs.  There have been studies done with babies that have been neglected of physical comfort or touch and needless to say that it has scarred these babies for their lives.  Their view of love is warmth or genuine affection.  Solitude and love are like enemies in the world of human nature.  We are relational creatures and so we need love above physical limitations.  We desire presence of a loved one over physical or tangible representations of them.  Let's say it was Valentines Day, the celebration of love all over the U.S. and maybe the world I don't know.  Wouldn't you rather see your spouse or loved one rather than a card or flowers.  Sure, flowers, candy and a card would be nice but having them there is much more meaningful.  Otherwise, wouldn't you rather just buy those things yourself?  Maybe the day after if you wanted to save money.  The presence of love is so powerful that it has the ability to change lives!  The presence of love at home changes the lives of kids.  The presence of love in a church brings about passion and purpose.  The presence of love in a person's heart keeps them alive and brings hope.  Love is not simply just a physical thing.  Once the money and sex are gone, how do you sustain the love you made if love were only physical?  Because we absolutely need love over food and water and other bodily needs, it says to me that love is above and beyond anything physical.  

I can only speculate and think that the worst suffering for human beings is absolute solitude.  The deepest wound you can experience in this life if that of complete and utter loneliness.  Being alone in this world both physically, emotionally and spiritually is simply hell.  Humans cannot endure such a pain as this.  Take a look at Jesus.  The man knew that he was going to be crucified, one of the worst ways to die.  He was beyond stressed and hurt throughout the entire process of anticipating it, enduring the torture, and carrying the cross to his death site.  He had even began to sweat blood.  This happens only under extreme stress.  Taking on the the sins of the world - past, present and future - yeah, seems like A LOT OF STRESS!  But the worst part of all is right before he died He spoke the words, "Father, why have you forsaken me?"  A lot of disciples weren't there, only his mother and a few other people who loved him.  Jesus shows his human side in uttering these words.  His Dad wasn't there to save Him.  Think about it, Jesus didn't complain during his torture or even rebuke those hurting him.  BUT, he was so hurt by the notion that God had forsaken him.  What if the love of your life didn't come to your rescue?  The feeling is much worse than death, wouldn't you agree?  

The feeling of loneliness brings with it hopelessness.  But love brings hope, peace, joy, mercy, grace, and strength to endure.  It wasn't that God didn't love Jesus, but it was needed to save the sins of the world that He had to turn away.  What does that say about us?  GOD LOVES YOU!  What a bold statement from one who proclaimed that HE HIMSELF IS LOVE!  Only in Christianity does it say that GOD IS LOVE!  And, this God loves you.  He loves me.  He loves your roommate.  He loves you parents.  He loves us all and He proved it through Jesus' death on the cross.

A song that I would like to share with you that I heard today in church is called "Here in Your Presence".  In the presence of love, things happen.  If you have ever experienced love before, you understand what I mean.  It is an indescribable satisfaction like none other.  Love is second to none.  Love is not average, even though it may seem it when we listen to the latest songs on the radio or read those romantic novels.  Love is the only thing worth living for on this earth.  God is love.  And without love, we can do nothing.  Without love, there's solitude and loneliness.  The presence of love drives the darkness away.  I encourage you to show this incredible love to everyone you meet in your words and actions.  This sort of love that Jesus showed to us on the cross, is so contagious that we cannot simply hoard it for ourselves.  Be there for somebody at their game or debate match.  Be present at their graduation from middle school.  Be present at their reading of Scripture on Sunday morning.  Be present in their worst times of suffering by holding there hand or hugging them.  Be present physically, emotionally and spiritually.  Love cares.  Love cares about you.  God is love.  He cares about you.  He's there no matter what.  Love is with you, wherever you go.  What an incredible thought to think about each day.  Why not tell someone about it today?  Why not tell someone you love them today?  Why not show this love to someone today?  Choose to love today, because tomorrow may never come for someone who needed it.