I have some impressions I will endeavour to share.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…” -the Bible
The circumstances in which Jesus entered this world were not solely biological. He was truly a unique child. A one and only. Having a biological connection to his mother, and yet the only begotten Son of his Father. The God of Heaven. I’m guessing Jesus’ physical features resembled Mary, his mother.
When Jesus carried out the ultimate love act for all of us in the Garden of Gethsemane, He prayed, “O Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me.” Later, on the Cross, when the burden of the sin of this world lay on him, Jesus identified as a person, just like one of us. Also, when in the 9th hour he felt the rejection of his Father and God, he cried in anguish, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” It does not seem sacrilegious to suggest that the terror of the inevitable, and, indeed, the events even as they were unfolding, brought out the anguish of a little boy, crying in fear for the security of his father.
And He gave his only begotten Son…
This brief and incomplete review of these events is what I want to use to clarify the wonder of Love, and, at the same time, the reality in rejection. In order to experience loss, we must first have acquired. If we never had it, we can’t lose it.
I am told that long before a child’s mind can communicate the gift of love and the loss thereof, they will respond when circumstances have denied them their first “mother love”. All people are affected by early childhood circumstances. There are those who have been nurtured and loved from birth. There are those who have been born outside of this coveted spectrum. The response of a person who has never been shortchanged of a mother’s love to one who has never experienced a mother’s love should not come to us as a surprise.
From a horticultural perspective there are award-winning Gardens of stunning Roses. Nourished and tended and nurtured, they exhibit a beauty beyond description. Take a walk down the rocky escarpment next to my house. In among the competing natural foliage of towering Douglas fir, brambles and nettles, if you keep your eyes open, you will find exquisite Wild Roses. Almost anywhere, at unlikely places. These “wrangly”, prickly barb-stemmed specimens of the rose family are tough. Resilient, drought-resistant, their petals are beautiful. However, compared to a cultivated rose, the wild rose appears almost insignificant. Nonetheless, they are 100% rose. They are 100% healthy. And God is honoured by their survival and existence in the same way as he is honoured by the glory of their fertilized urban cousins.
Let’s take a moment to compare this to human love. Perhaps even be really brave and draw a parallel to God’s plan designed with love. When God gave His only begotten Son, He knew exactly what was going to happen. The Scorn. The crown of thorns. The rusty nails. But most of all, God knew He would need to reject His Son. “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Jesus died as a human. He knew it would be tough. The realization in the Garden, when he sweat blood, was not a naive uncomprehending shallow awareness. However, I doubt Jesus truly “knew”. I doubt the emotion of the sin of the world and having his own Father, the God of Heaven, forsake him, actually hit home to him.
Back to us. Today. The coddled domesticated rose versus the spiny tough specimen of beauty growing up between boulders, denied sunlight by massive towering fir trees. In order for us to navigate the journey between love and loneliness we need to have a grip on the examples of having been forgiven. We need to understand that when God gave the best that Heaven had, He did not spare His own Son the pain and grief of rejection.
Sometimes in our efforts to understand a less privileged individual, we attempt to walk in their shoes. Our endeavour to emulate their circumstances may sound noble, and even be somewhat commendable. Unfortunately, it seldom impresses the one we are attempting to reach. The brambly wild rose would find little benefit in a squirt or two of “specially blended plant food”. Nor would it feel at home in the arbors of the mansions of the rich and famous. In our outreach of extending love, our outward antics of simulated understanding will leave little or no impression.
The cultured Rose is 100% a rose. The wild rose is 100% a rose. A person devoid of the luxuries of a good childhood is 100% capable of love. The person whose lot has fallen in pleasant places too is 100 % capable of love.
When we dive deep into the refreshing depths of love, we will soon find out that the defense mechanism that resists love is often loneliness. The false bravado exhibited by accomplished people is often an outward display. A showcase of acquired behavioral patterns and cultural expectation. Behind this executive authoritarianism is the soul. A longing for Heaven. When love looks beyond the religious garb, the ethnic difference, the wealth barrier, the fatherless, the widow, we will find loneliness. We will find a hunger for acceptance. Transplanting the Rose will be of little value.
I Cor 13:13 NIV And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
