Most of the time, I like the idea of love, the notion of love, love in the abstract, more than I actually love. But love, and the idea of love, are not the same thing. The idea of love allows me to stand at a distance from whatever I’m seeking to love. I can think about love, ponder love, examine love, consider love, and pontificate on love- but still never really love. I can talk of loving the whole world (see how abstract that is?) without actually loving a real person in a tangible way.
Real love demands I lean in and move closer. Love moves me from the realm of ideas to the realm of action. Love demands intimate knowledge of whatever it is I’m trying to love. Love hungers for more intimacy, more experience, and more nearness so the other person can receive my love. Real love does not exist in generic abstractions, but in particular and personal specificity. There is a limit to how much and how well you can love someone if you don’t know their name.
I think about this at Christmas, every time the angel remembers the prophet Isaiah saying, “You shall call him Emmanuel, which means ‘God with us.’” God’s love does not permit God to stand at a distance from creation and yell, “I love you.” God does not stand from afar in detached objectivity. Rather, God’s love demands that God lean in. God touches the dirt of Bethlehem. God experiences the human vulnerability of the manger. God hears the cries of a woman in labor up close. God sheds the human tear. God feels the human pain. God bears the human experience. God is a “with us” God because there is no other way for a God of love to be. God leans in because love always draws near.
The Christmas story is not about a religious notion of love, but a divine/human experience and expression of it. It is love in its purest form. And THIS kind of love is what saves us. Hallelujah.
God of love, as you draw near to us, help us to draw near to you and to each other. As your love takes on our experience in grand compassion, shape our love to take on the experience of others. Grant us the sort of love that does not stand a distance shouting, but moves nearer in empathy and sensitivity. And get our “love” out of our brains and into our hands, feet, and ears. In the name Jesus, who is with us, we pray. Amen.
This reflection was written by Preston Clegg.