What Can Brown Do For You?

Why do we look for companionship in the opposite sex? Why do we like and fall in love? Better yet, why do we yearn for such camaraderie in others? That is the question I seek to answer. I believe the answer lies in God's love for us.

First off, what exactly is God's love for us? It's boundless, so much so that He gave a piece of himself, so that we might understand and allowed it to be killed so that we may live. The ultimate form of love is laying down your life for a friend. He also gave us a book full of His attempts to show us exactly what His love means. Many think that the Bible is a manual for how to live purely. On the surface, this is exactly what it is. But did deeper, what do you find? You find a God who never gives up chasing us. You see a God who goes to great lengths to try and show us love; for us to understand exactly what He's about. You find a God who's crazy about us who mourns when we do stupid stuff contrary to the best way to live: in love. That is God, the essence of good, abounding in love.

Now look at us. A miserable bag of meat who can't even figure out what they're going to do in the next year. We quarrel amongst ourselves for selfish gain and pretend that we created everything and have everything figured out. We reduce everything into a little box so it's more manageable, so that we may rule over it standing proudly declaring "Look what my own hands have accomplished!" We use others to get ahead and have to work to try and do anything to the contrary. Is that all there is? Or is there more? What about that deep desire in us to see joy in other people. How about those desires to belong, that this screwed up world is not all there is? This CAN'T be all there is. Otherwise, what's the point? It's all one big colossal waste of time. What about a woman's desire to (among others that I cannot list for I am not a girl, contrary to popular opinion) nurture and a man's desire to protect, provide, and create? What about our desire to love, be loved, and belong? These things don't seem quite so evil. For many it's what they long for, what they search for EVERYWHERE. Maybe we're just a lump of confused clay. We have so much potential, but it gets mixed up in everything else, things we think are important.

God created man. He created us in his image. What does that mean, besides the fact that we owe him our lives? Does it mean that we are scaled down versions of him? Or does it mean we are like him in spirit and yearning? We are both physical and spiritual beings. It could be both. God could have hands like us, a face like us, a nose like us, legs like us. Or could it be we are like Him spiritually, that at our core, our deepest pure desires, what we crave for is what He craves? Perhaps those moments that make us stop and begin to truly take perspective in what we are and how things are, "for the beauty of the earth" are where we touch on those moments. If we were created in God's image then in some fashion we are like him. What if our desire to love and be loved is of God? That would explain much.

So this is what we have so far. We have a God who loves and craves love. We have us, humans, who desire to love and to be loved in the very core of our being, who were created in the image of this God in some fashion if not every fashion. We also have this God who wants OUR love and who loves us, the miserable bags of meat we are.

So then, it seems rather simple, does it not? We desire the same camaraderie of others as God desires of us. That brings up our only commandment as Gentiles: love your neighbor as yourself. Makes sense doesn't it? If we are all tiny representations of God running around, if we love each other, we are ultimately loving God. Maybe that's why we yearn so much for relationships. Maybe it's but a taste of what God feels for us. He longs for our relationship. Maybe that's why shallow friendships or lack of friendships causes depression and despair. Maybe that's why it feels so... complete to be loved. When we love others, everything else falls into place.

What if our own struggles and desires for relationships are reflections on God? What if when we truly love someone to the point that no matter what they will do we'll be there, we are experiencing what God feels for the entirety of the human race? What if, when someone you love breaks your heart, we are seeing a window into what we put God through day in, day out. What if, when there is mutual, unadulterated love among people we are experiencing the joy and ecstasy felt by God when his beloved returns to Him, proclaiming their love for him?

These are just a few things that have been revealed to me, capitalized by reading a book: Redeeming Love. However, I feel it's not enough just to pose these questions or or ponder the truth. You have to put what you learn into practice, otherwise it's meaningless. So now, I pray these thoughts will be on the forefront of my own mind and that others who read these thoughts garner some truth from them for their own lives.

*This note may seem that I'm saying "go earthly relationships!" but it's more saying that our relationships are patterns, either something God instilled in us or something we are striving to be like. Either way, all that I was saying is that I believe we feel like this to know what God feels like. There are a thousand other things I could branch off into about how this is only the tip of the iceberg and how we can't be satisfied in simple human to human interaction, but, I suppose that is for another note or perhaps, a good conversation ;)