The Risk of Relinquishment

It's a good title isn't it? I wish I could take credit for it, but, the credit goes to Luci Shaw, the author of The Crime of Living Cautiously: Hearing God's Call to Adventure. Relinquishment is the theme of a chapter of the book. It's been rolling around in my head for a while, due to this excerpt:

Emptying the Vessel:

I have learned from New Testament Greek studies that "to empty oneself," as used in this passage, has the sense not merely of a vessel being poured out but of a waterfall that continually spills itself over a cliff edge. Jesus continues to pour himself out for us in love, day by day. His once-in-a-lifetime act of dying for us, a historical event, is being reenacted in a different form, in an ongoing relationship of giving and loving.

When I first read this I just felt tired. I don't think I am alone in feeling like all I do is pour myself out for others every day. Don't think I don't know how whiney and selfish that sounds. However, I think that women, especially, are always pouring themselves out for friends, family and coworkers in all sorts of ways. It just gets tiring sometimes, doesn't it? To think of pouring yourself out like a waterfall, well, that's just plain exhausting. And, excuse me, when is it my turn to be poured out for? (I am most tempted to take out this whole paragraph because in print it sounds even more whiney and selfish!)

This passage has stuck with me, and as I've been reflecting on it, the picture it makes has become more and more beautiful to me. Picture a waterfall in your mind. It doesn't matter whether it's a big or small one, the principal is the same. Whether it's a forceful flow, or a steady drip, the waterfall influences the ground on which it lands. It takes a landscape, and turns it into something else. It breaks down stone, it washes away dirt, it makes a curve where it was straight, or a drop where it was level. These changes don't happen instantly, but over time, the waterfall keeps up it's persistent presence. Even the sound of a waterfall is always there, whether it's a roar, or a plop, plop, plop--it's constant.

Now picture love as that waterfall. You have to stop and really think about this--what happens when you choose love, constantly. When you choose to serve when you feel like being selfish, when you choose to love even when you're feeling angry, when you choose to love, even when you don't feel love. Love has the same power as a waterfall. Love makes a hard heart soft, love makes the unwelcome feel welcome, love restores what was broken, love sets free what was bound. Like the waterfall, persistent love has the power to change a person, a circumstance, a heart. God's love in us, (which is thankfully powered by the Holy Spirit) makes us like the waterfall. It's impossible for me to express constant love without Him.

You know, I make so many mistakes every day. I don't choose not to show love, but something ugly just pops out of me. It comforts me to know that even though that happens, I can still go back and choose love. I can say, I'm so sorry, that's not how I want to be. It's encouraging to know that over time, love will still do it's work.

My son had a sign on his computer for the longest time: Love Wins. I like that. Love Wins.