I had a friend ask me recently how I define the word “love.” As someone who’s NEVER at a loss for words, I found myself tongue-tied. As I fumbled through a rather cliché-ish definition, my mind started to wander. How does our culture express love to those we care so deeply about?
The variety of places the word love is applied to is quite amazing: I love my car, I love my new outfit, I love my children, I love this woman/man, I love nature, I love ice cream…….and the list goes on and on. In a language as wordy as Engligh, I find it interesting that we have only one word for love. In Greek they have 3 words, phileo, eros, and agape. To place even more emphasis on a constructed phrase, they would repeat the word, “I phileo phileo my brother.” In a culture with limited means of expression, how do we convey the deepest meanings and intentions of the soul?
While perusing through the card isle at Target, I found myself fascinated watching the human species in action. A man in a classy suit walks through the aisles pulling cards out violently as if they are to blame for his apparent anxiety. After the third or fourth card that he thumbed through briefly, he quickly grabbed the envelope to the one currently in his hands, and dashed for the register. I can’t help but sneak a peek at the card he just picked up. It said, “Our Anniversary” with a big cheesy rose on the front. On the inside it reads, “More than words can say, more than pictures show, I love you more than anything." The most important part of the card was the little writing in the bottom right corner on the back of the card, “$3.99.” Wow, you can express years of love, commitment, friendship, and intimacy for only $3.99!!! Now that’s a deal! My eyes wander away from the cheap expression of love and notice a mother with a young child in her shopping cart slowing gazing over the vast selection of cards in the “Thinking of You” section. As she pulls one off the wall and begins to read it, a smile comes over her face, her eyes light up, then she lets out a light chuckle and continues to read as her son begins to tug on her shirt. I wonder who she’s “thinking of” when reading that card? A family member? A spouse? Finally my gaze drifts onto a teenage boy who has been standing in the aisle for quite some time. As he picks up card after card, the look of confusion never seems to leave his face. Maybe this is his first card-buying experience for the new girl in his life? So many choices for those in love.
As I continued to watch person after person attempting to locate the perfect card with the perfect phrase for that perfect someone, I couldn’t help but think, what would God look for in the card aisle if he was picking out a card for me? Would it be a funny card with some joke about my quirky personality that He appreciates? Would it be mushy and sentimental card with swirly writing and poems about emotions? What words would He use? Are there aspects of my personality He would touch on that He appreciates? Would he say He’s proud of me for my accomplishments, or would He simply remind me that He’s “Thinking about me”? As my mind continued to reflect on God’s Hallmark card, it brought be back to the question of expression of love. If God loves me so incredibly deeply, how could He possibly express that using our limited English language? Does He love me the same way He loves insects and animals? Is the Bible like one big Hallmark card of love?
I grabbed my Bible and started flipping through the Psalms. I stopped at Psalms 107. The passage goes on and on about the character of God and what He has done for those He loves. It repeats the phrase over and over, “His love endures forever.” The passage describes God’s continual faithfulness, His unfailing love, His listening ear in times of trouble, His ability to deliver us out of trials and turmoil, and the list goes on. I set the Bible down and gazed up at the ceiling thinking, wow, that’s one spectacular Hallmark card. God wants to express all that to me? I mean, it’s one thing for me to tell my husband that I have unfailing love for him, but I make mistakes and my love is imperfect; but God, His love is flawless. He’s the maker of the entire universe and He’s taken time to write out the perfect Hallmark card for me to express His deep love and affection towards me. This card isn’t $3.99 and wasn’t thought of at the last minute. His card took centuries to write and came with a great price.
My mind drifted back to the cheap usage of the word love on the cards at Target. What can I say to the creator of the universe that doesn’t sound like a cheesy love poem? What can I say that will touch His heart?
Now, every time I sing a cliché-ish worship song at church, I reminded of the cheesy Hallmark card aisle at Target. Never again do I want my words to be a cheap expression of love to the one that sacrificed his only son to write a card for me.
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