Thursday, September 03, 2009

On Love and Unicorns

I don't know what I am doing, and I am not the only one.

Maybe it's generational, maybe it's something in the water, but so many of us are floundering. Not sure what to do with ourselves, but sure that this isn't it. (Well, ok. By 'sure' I mean we really, really hope there is more than this.)

What I mean is, where is the greatness? The adventure? The... career? Something. I'm 26, single, work at a coffee shop, have no degree, live with my parents... this is not to say that I don't have ever so much to praise God for. His blessings are new every day!! Therein lies the rub. When I have so much I don't rely on God for my daily living.

That was the sweetness in the road trip. Sweetness in brokenness. In the state I was in this Spring I couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't function at all without leaning totally on God. I praise Him for my healing and needed a new heart... but that sweetness is gone. I can get through the day without Him (at least, it feels like it), and I'm not sure I like it.

I need direction. Contentment. A degree. (A plane ticket?)

My night time devotional spurred this blog post. I was just going to post another quote, but I got to thinking about it. Thinking about how this applies to my life. Thinking about how this applies to the lives of my friends and decided that if I didn't pull out my computer and just write it down that I would lie awake thinking about what I would write and then forget everything by morning.

"Life with all its experiences is just our chance of learning love. The lesson is set for us—“thou shalt love”; “As I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” Our one thing is to master this lesson. We are not in this world to get rich, to gain power, to become learned in the arts and sciences, to build up a great business, or to do large things in any line. We are not here to get along in our daily work, in our shops, or schools, or homes, or on our farms. We are not here to preach the gospel, to comfort sorrow, to visit the sick and perform deeds of charity. All of these, or any of these, may be among our duties, and they may fill our hands; but in all our occupations the real business of life, that which we are always to strive to do , the work which must go in all our experiences, if we grasp life’s true meaning at all, is to learn to love and to grow loving in disposition and character." J.R. Miller from Streams in the Desert Volume 2

And I think he is right. Love. Paul tells us in Corinthians that we can do all these great things, but without love we are just a clanging gong. We're useless and annoying.

So, friends, that is our job. Our calling. Just love.

(I assume when we get this down the rest will follow... though if it doesn't, what does it matter? This is not our life to live anyway.)

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