My friend Katie recounts to me how she spent many hours on her backyard swing set, rocking and swinging up and down all the while singing songs into the air. She wasn't just singing tunes from her favorite movies or cartoons but she sang to Jesus. It was her daily dialogue to sing all of her thoughts to the One she loves.
I contrast that to my own childhood play. I loved to set up all of my teddy bears and dolls in a nice neat row and either teach them lessons that I learned in school like fractions or spelling, or get an old hymnal out that used to belong to my grandmother. I would sing to those stuffed animals the liturgy and then we would move on to sing a hymn.
Perhaps both of these stories sound to you like a couple of nerdy girls who didn't know what to do with their time. To me it seems that God had something in mind for both of us -- we are now both parish pastors having worked in other fields before succumbing to the call of the Holy Spirit.
But when I look at my friend Katie's story I see something that I think was missing in my own story for a long time. I see a girl on a swing set who was in love with Jesus. In my case I see a girl who wanted to play church. There's a qualitative difference there you know. Playing church is much different than being fully and deeply in love with Jesus Christ! Loving Christ is to give one's life over to him so that he can be in charge. After all he knows what's best for us anyway! Loving Christ is wanting to please the Beloved. Loving Christ is singing love songs to him about whatever is on our heart at the time.
I'm happy to say that the love Katie felt for Jesus in her childhood years and still now as an adult, is the same love I feel for Jesus in my adulthood. That love is life transforming and the thing is, sometimes we don't even know that we don't have it. We "play" church rather than basking in the love of the Risen Christ. May you be filled with his love so that you may love others like he loves you! Amen.
Image credit: zeodo.com
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