Thankfully, not to the same church
While driving home from work this evening, I read "YOU ARE LOVED BY GOD & BY US MERRY CHRISTMAS" on a marquee. This at least does not prompt the 'get off my team' reaction. It does, however, prompt me to ask the question, "What does love mean to you?"
When I say that I love someone, I mean that I want what is good for that person. I want good things to happen to and for that person. Generally, I also want to contribute to those good things; the amount that I love someone can be most easily measured by the amount of my personal resources I'm willing to devote to this goal. I do not assume that I know what is good, or what is best, for those I love. If I'm in doubt, I generally ask.
I don't know what love means to this church, or to those who load its marquee. I very much doubt that they use the same definition I do, in large part because it calls for far greater examination of self than I'm used to seeing in [this region | Christians | humanity]. My mother, as an example, seems to believe that since she loves me, it means she has free rein to comment (disapprovingly) on aspects of my life that don't match the way she would arrange matters.
I certainly hope I am LOVED BY GOD -- after all, it's a significant part of my faith, and not something I need shouted at me from a message board in order to remember. I believe in that love, and I accept it wholeheartedly. I would feel awkward saying the same about the love shown by strangers, even if they do claim my religious label.
When I say that I love someone, I mean that I want what is good for that person. I want good things to happen to and for that person. Generally, I also want to contribute to those good things; the amount that I love someone can be most easily measured by the amount of my personal resources I'm willing to devote to this goal. I do not assume that I know what is good, or what is best, for those I love. If I'm in doubt, I generally ask.
I don't know what love means to this church, or to those who load its marquee. I very much doubt that they use the same definition I do, in large part because it calls for far greater examination of self than I'm used to seeing in [this region | Christians | humanity]. My mother, as an example, seems to believe that since she loves me, it means she has free rein to comment (disapprovingly) on aspects of my life that don't match the way she would arrange matters.
I certainly hope I am LOVED BY GOD -- after all, it's a significant part of my faith, and not something I need shouted at me from a message board in order to remember. I believe in that love, and I accept it wholeheartedly. I would feel awkward saying the same about the love shown by strangers, even if they do claim my religious label.