We are supposed to show care and spread joy. I thought I was doing that today but it ended feeling like a sucker punch. My fault was in not following directions. Jesus is clear in these points – that are not parables. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind”. Next is, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”. For my neighbor sometimes I guess what they want or need. I need to be nice and give something needed. Do I have to be nice and make it about them? You know how, at Christmas, you sometimes purchase a gift for someone dear that you think they will like because you like it. That is a well-meaning guess. Sometimes they want something else. A few years ago I lost a dear friend, Sue, to cancer. Once discovered it went fast. I visited often but at our last visit she just rolled over in bed. With her back to me I knew this was our last visit and she needed me to say goodbye. She no longer needed me to visit but I wanted to be there. My bad. I want to rid the world of cancer, strokes, and the like. I have no power to solve these things so I sometimes guess wrong. I remember a call from a good friend a week after giving birth to my firstborn. All day, Saturday, the visits had come. They were so appreciated but I was tired and asked them to come another time. I hurt them but I needed rest to be a good new Mom. Today I needed to remember that I humbly love and encourage people the way God directs and in ways they need. I saw a phrase today, ‘unnamed ache’. How we ache to love God and our people in unfoolish ways. We don’t want a ‘copy, echo, or mirage’ (another phrase I saw today) of true love for our neighbors. They deserve God-like and not Pam-like love.
