Prompt thought of the week:
Sometimes the things we think offer love actually seek to bind us, preventing us from being full and whole and offering our best love to the world. The story of Lazarus, whose funeral shrouds trail him out of the tomb, offer us a metaphor of new life as we recognize that true love is that which unbinds us, that wants for us more, not less, freedom and life. Jesus says to us, “Come out!” Walk! Live! Love! Shed your funeral clothes and offer your deepest self, your deepest love, for the world. Of course this kind of love can be dangerous, as we will see as the events of Holy Week loom closer. But the price of continuing to look for love in the wrong places is higher than the blessing of life lived boldly.
Love can be freeing or suffocatingly binding. Ideally, we want as a mate or loved one another who will let us be ourselves and encourage us to use the talents we have been blessed with rather than trying to change us in ways that unduly constrict us. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be sensitive to the needs of others and make concessions that could be of benefit.
In the story of Lazarus, Jesus unbinds him from his burial shrouds to be himself, one who loved Jesus and was loved by him. Jesus freed him to live and love again.
We too can be a liberator when we give something to someone or a family in need. That little leg-up so-to-speak maybe just what is needed to help set them on a successful course. Our church’s sanctuary space is used for that purpose. We can’t do everything, but we can provide a safe place for people to stay without rental costs. We have invested in that ministry and I think it has been a blessing to the people we have housed and to us as well.
Prayer: God give us the wisdom to use our love wisely to offer our best freeing love to those around us.
Dorothy Northey