Friday, January 13th, 2006
A Study on Love – Edition #10
The three things:
- Is there a fact to believe here?
- Is there a promise to trust?
- Is there a command to obey?
Superstition (noun):
- An irrational belief that an object, action, or circumstance not logically related to a course of events influences its outcome.
- A belief, practice, or rite irrationally maintained by ignorance of the laws of nature or by faith in magic or chance; A fearful or abject state of mind resulting from such ignorance or irrationality; Idolatry.
So, uh, I am not sure what to make of superstitions… I mean, to think something is going to happen when you break a mirror or walk under a ladder, well that is… well, crazy. I was in a hospital once, and a guy told me I was going to hell because of the shirt I was wearing… and to be honest, there wasn’t anything wrong with my shirt. I was wearing a “there’s something about Mary” shirt that had that dog is a full body cast. I’ve never seen the movie and have no desire to see it, for that matter, but the shirt is funny. But we can be like that. The penguin always faces east. I have to adjust my gloves after every pitch. I have to get up every morning at 2:36 AM to wash my face or I will get acne. If I don’t do twenty hail-Mary’s everyday, then God isn’t going to forgive me… God’s love is bigger than that. And I have to admit, with today being Friday the 13th, a lot of talk is going to go about saying this or that evil, mean, bad, and nasty stuff is because of the date. But I do have my own personal quirks. My wife will love me more if I do the dishes, laundry, and have dinner ready for her when she gets home… her love is bigger than that, but I tend to think that way, irrational as it may be.
Now, Deuteronomy, I found, means repetition of the law. Love is used 33 times in this book (NIV), almost once each chapter on average.
Deuteronomy 10:12-22
12 And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to observe the LORD's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?
14 To the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it. 15 Yet the LORD set his affection on your forefathers and loved them, and he chose you, their descendants, above all the nations, as it is today. 16 Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer. 17 For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. 18 He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. 19 And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt. 20 Fear the LORD your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name. 21 He is your praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes. 22 Your forefathers who went down into Egypt were seventy in all, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.
Whenever I hear the word “alien,” I think of the little green men, the X-Files, and all those movies, like E-T, Alien, and so forth. And with that, what makes it come clear is what if it was so? I mean, hypothetically speaking, what if God were telling me to love people who I don’t know? People I have never seen before, is he telling me to love them also? And I think so. The definition I love the most about love is “a deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward a person, such as that arising from kinship, recognition of attractive qualities, or a sense of underlying oneness.” I need to treat outsiders like insiders… family. And that is not the easiest thing to do, and I am nowhere near this in my character, but it is something I will have to focus and guide my heart to. Johnny Out.
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