A Morning Reflection – Love is Absurd

Love Is Absurd
June 14, 2009

Lately I have been contemplating a lyric from a song written and sung by one of my favorite performers, Matt Maher. The song is generally praising God because He loves everyone. One of the lines says “that’s why love is so absurd”. My first reaction to hearing that the first time was “Huh?” What do you mean “Love is so absurd”? How about “Love is patient” or “Love is kind”. “Love is absurd” is not in that famous chapter of Corinthians by Paul. However, upon further reflection, I have come to love this lyric because it is oh so true.

Love takes a week off from work, but instead of taking a cruise or going skiing or sight-seeing, it helps out with Vacation Bible School at church, or it goes on a mission trip to Ecuador or New Orleans or Pahokee. Love uses that vacation time to accompany a group of Boy Scouts to summer camp or a group of teenagers to youth camp. Love is so absurd!

Love drives her husband, who can not drive himself, 450 miles one day so that he can spend the next day with his suddenly ill mom in the hospital. Then the day after that, Love drives her husband 450 miles back home so on the next day he can support his son with raising money for his community service project for Boy Scouts. Then two weeks later, Love does it all over again so her husband can visit his ailing mom again. Love is so absurd!

Love, upon learning that a good friend is having serious marital problems, puts aside everything that is going on in his life and makes a full day’s journey to spend the weekend with that friend, even though there is no money in the budget for such a trip and he and his wife have to bring along three children under the age of 5. Love is so absurd!

Love puts aside practically everything in her own life and takes on the job of full time care for her cancer stricken mother-in-law. Love fully supports his mom in her care giving task even though it means mom is not as available as she usually is. Love is so absurd!

Love spends every evening that is not already committed to volunteering at church visiting and praying with a friend who is seriously ill in the hospital. Love is so absurd!

Love devotes almost all of its resources of time, energy and money to the care and education of its children and when it is not doing that, it is volunteering at church to help the children of others. There are countless numbers of parents doing this every day. Love is so absurd!

Love, having all power and authority in heaven and on the earth, willingly subjects itself to public humiliation and torture. Love allows itself to be ridiculed, spat upon, cursed, stripped naked and beaten to within a breath of His life. During all this, Love utters not a single word. After all that, Love willingly climbs upon a wooden cross and allows itself to be nailed to that cross by the hands and the feet. Love does not drink even the drugged wine which would have dulled the pain. Love dies on the cross under the weight of every sin ever committed by any human soul in all of time. Yes, indeed, Love is so absurd!!!

The Bible tells us that God is Love. So my brothers and sisters in Love, remember that when you love someone, it may be absurd, but you have allowed yourself to be a vessel of the Lord God Almighty. There is no greater act than to love, for without Love all that we do amounts to nothing. With Love, even the most simple action can amount to everything.