On the Road Again

Yesterday I took a much-needed road trip. I hopped in the car, complete with stress and fatigue and in the deep desire to find some peace from things that have kept me locked up these past couple weeks. A day with my friend Kate was just the ticket. We talked together, laughed, cried (as I related the struggles I have been having with fear and anxiety), and teared up again when she talked about her new beau, Dave. It seems that she is totally taken with this fellow, and he is steadily pursuing her, and for once I was actually really happy for her. I mean, I think we can say that we are happy when people find romance. But in your heart of hearts, when was the last time you were unselfishly happy for that, and not wishing it were you, or wondering the whole time what was wrong with you that this magical state had not found you yet? But this time, I can truly say: I was happy. And I am happy for them. It is so good for us to relish the goodness that people find in one another. One thing she told me about the way Dave's love for her has changed her really struck me. She said that because he loves her so unselfishly, she is empowered to love others more freely. When before she would have been hesitant to call an old friend out of fear of rejection or disapproval, she felt fearless and freed to call her up just because she loves her and wanted to see her after a long time. What is this love? As I was driving down through the hazy pasturelands from PA toward West Virginia, I was listening to an old Chris Rice album. "Only love can save us, love can make a way" As I reflect on Kate's experience, I am apt to think about what Christ's love for us is really meant to do. To free us.... Paul wrote: "It is for freedom that he has set you free..." For what other end? To be moral citizens? To look better, act better, be better people? No. Again, I am caused to pause and to wonder at the LOVE that I cannot fathom, and pray that a little sliver of His love would puncture the walls I have built in unknown places, to banish all fear ('Perfect love drives out fear')and empower me to love others as I am meant to love them. Wouldn't it be nice?