Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-3
I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Thought for the Day: CS Lewis wrote in the book, The Four Loves:
To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken… Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the sake or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket…it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation.
How many shield themselves from the possibility of hurt, hiding in this safe or coffin as Lewis suggests? If we think through all the possible negatives that vulnerability can bring, we will most certainly seek the cautious, secure and boring path of life. Yet Lewis will go on and suggest that there is only one place free of tragedy, and that is heaven. This other – this self imposed hell – may appear free of tragedy and suffering, but a life lived without vulnerability (and thus, love) is an immense tragedy and the greatest source of suffering.
Prayer: Though some may call it foolish, let me risk loving as you love, O Lord. Help me accept the possibility of rejection and suffering so that I may do your will and find the fullness of life as Jesus did in his mission of perilous love. Amen.
