You probably saw this one coming, right? How can we not speak of love when we talk about Eden?
In preparation for this series as I mapped out each day. I’ve rearranged and scratched out and merged and wrestled (are contentment and satisfaction different? Or just variations of each other? ). As a part of this process, when it comes to love, I’ve started thinking of in terms of dialects.
Each day when we look at the culture of Eden, we’ll also name how that attribute has gotten twisted and bastardized. How it comes to us now in its changed fashion, so familiar we forget it’s an imposter.
Gary Chapman speaks of the 5 Languages of Love and if you’re not familiar with them, they’re worth the visit. (As a refresher: quality time, acts of service, physical touch, words of encouragement, and giving gifts).
Eden lost speaks of
Indifference
Disengagement
Apathy
Fear
and even of Hate.
But Eden was a place of LOVE and her many dialects. Caring, patience, kindness, cheering, encouraging. Sarah Ruden has a brilliant analysis of the love passage from 1 Corinthians 13 – complete with a direct translation from the Greek (for those of us who don’t read Greek but are curious). She notes that in English we use adjectives to describe love, while Paul was “manically verb centered.”
We’ve all been burnt in love whether by a spouse, lover, friend, child, dream, or job, and we know that the list could continue. Sigh.
It won’t always be this way.
I repeat, it won’t always be this way!
Our first reminder: we were made to live in a culture permeated with and by LOVE.
All the posts in the series will be added to this page each day of October. If you would like to receive these reminders in your email inbox, subscribe now (either to regular posts or to quarterly newsletters). I look forward to the journey together. Amy
P.S. What does love taste like to you?
And a big thank you to photographer Janet Wachter who will be providing a photo for each post. We finally got to meet in person this summer when I was in Minnesota … she’s Joann’s sister.
I’ve tasted SO many different flavors of love just the past month! An embrace and a kiss from my beloved; a simple “I love you!” from a former student who has become a close friend; a song that embodies the Father’s love and makes me weep for joy; parents who tell me, “I’m praying for you!” and many more. Yes, I am blessed, overwhelmingly blessed with love surrounding me every day!
Mike, thanks for sharing some of the tastes! May you continue to taste love.
“It won’t always be this way” is a great reminder. All of this is a just a pale reminder of what was lost…but what remains through it all is love.
Looking forward to the series
Thanks David!
Love sometimes comes from the most unexpected of places. Last week, I got sick downtown and my friend hailed me a cab. The taxi cab driver kept pointing to the meter and trying to tell me something in Chinese; the meter was working, so I didn’t know what he meant. Although I didn’t understand what he was saying about the meter, when he made the sign of a cross I understood what he was communicating. We minimally conversed in our limited shared language. It wasn’t until I got back to my campus and tried to pay him that I realized I had been loved on in a very real verb sense of the word. I tried my best to pay him, but he wouldn’t let me. Sometimes allowing ourselves to be loved can be a more difficult thing than loving, especially when we think we know what is best in the situation (i.e. to pay the poor taxi driver and wanting to show him love instead of receiving it).
“Sometimes allowing ourselves to be loved can be a more difficult thing than loving, especially when we think we know what is best in the situation (i.e. to pay the poor taxi driver and wanting to show him love instead of receiving it).”
Stunning. Now, that, that will preach!