Loving Love

This week, I'm going to break with the flow of reflecting on the experiences of our Nativity characters (forgive me, Kathy!).  I will circle back to the shepherds next week right before we wrap up with a joyous birth.  Today, I'm trying so sort out my thoughts about...well...thinking.  And I hope I don't over-think it!

Bet you didn't know this about your brain:

• Your brain is the fattest organ in your body, consisting of about 60% fat.  So, when someone calls you a "fathead," they simply may be telling you the truth.
• There are no pain receptors in your brain, so your brain can feel no pain.  Explain a headache to me, then?!?
• Your brain has over 100,000 miles of blood vessels.  Additionally, your brain has over 100 billion neurons, and each neuron has from 1,000 to 10,000 synapses to aid in the transmission of messages across and through your brain.  That's a lot of zeroes!
• When you were a baby, your brain was about about the same size it is now in your adulthood, giving you an excuse to think like a child from time to time!
• While you are awake, your brain produces 10 to 23 watts of power--enough to fire up a light bulb.  Tell that to the next person who calls you a "dim-wit!"
• Humans experience around 70,000 thoughts per day!

Indeed, the brain is the most fascinating of the many fascinating parts of our human body, the "control room" that makes many things work involuntarily, and it is the center of memory, problem-solving, and reason.  We make "sense" of the world with our minds, using the unique human capacity to reflect on on our memories from the past to understand the present and create a vision of the future.

"Love the Lord God with your whole...mind."

On the one hand, when one considers both the complexity of the human mind physiologically, coupled with the noise and clamor most of us experience at this time of year as the "voices in our heads" compete for our attention, it seems a big task to devote our entire minds to the task of loving God.

On the other hand, mindfully and intentionally directing our attention to what God would call us to do in any given situation is a gift no other being on the planet can claim.  Unlike the other animals with whom we share the planet, we do not operate entirely and "mindlessly" from instinct.   We have the singular, unique ability to use our memory, our knowledge, and our experiences together to reason the response to be taken in those situations.  All that we have learned up to this very moment in our lives can serve as a resource for living if we intend to pay attention.

John Wesley, the father of the Methodist movement in England in the 18th Century, advocated for a balanced approach to theological reflection.  Recognizing the singular gift of the mind, "Wesley's Quadrilateral" suggested that a balance of scripture, reason, tradition, and experience were essential in the Christian journey.  How are we to make scripture come alive in our individual lives if not through the power of the mind?

The scriptures say many things about the nature of who we are, who God is, and how we are related. One of the simplest, most elegant descriptions of God is found in John 4:8.  "The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love."

Who is God?  What is God?  God is love. Scripture has spoken.  God is Love; therefore, if it's not love, it's not God.

When Jesus spoke to the experts who demanded to know his thoughts on the greatest commandment, my reason, tradition, and experience tell me that he was saying, "It's simple.  You need to love love with all your heart, soul, mind and strength."

When I quiet my mind and reason out the insanity of the world in Advent 2015, I am able to discern examples of love and non-love (hatred? indifference? jealousy? impatience? unkindness?).  If it's not love, it's not God, it seems to me.  

We live in a very dangerous, scary world.  We see so many images of hatred in our 24/7 news cycle. There is political upheaval in the Middle East.  Terror abounds.  People are fleeing that terror by the millions.  Some have good intentions, others do not.  There is chaos...just as there was chaos and political upheaval in the time of Christ's birth.

In this insane world, my reasoning mind can lead me to protect myself and my family, to avoid danger, to choose the words I use and the actions I take.

But I am commanded, first, to love love, and therefore to not love non-love. In these days of preparation for the coming of Christ into the world, into our hearts, I am going to try to focus my intention and attention on that...to love love with my whole mind.

May God help me.