How He Loves

“All you need is love.” –The Beatles

I don’t typically quote the Beatles, although I do think there is some truth in this statement.

Love is that all-encompassing value.

No matter what we believe, where we stand on issues, or what personality type we are,

love is…and should be…that integral, overriding aspect that covers.

I’ve been thinking about love and what it looks like.

As a child growing up, I think I loved with the capacity that a child can. I wasn’t typically mean to other kids, I tried to be polite and helpful, and even though I struggled making friends, I’d go out of my way to be nice to the new kid. I even regularly gave away my belongings, which I think frustrated my mom.

I guess, in a child’s world, that’s love.

As a teenager, I was shaken and shocked by the amount of non-love I saw. Whether directed toward me or not, it was all around…a daily battle. To me, love was taking that time to accept all people…talk to them, speak kind words, and leave the meanness behind.

As an adult, love took on such a deeper, more sacrificial meaning. As a wife, I have learned (and still am learning) that love often means putting aside what I want for the good of my husband. It means pay attention to his needs and making those sacrifices when necessary for what is best for him. And for us.

It’s hard…and I fail far more often than I succeed.

As a mom, to quote what a friend said yesterday, love is being willing to throw myself in front of a Mack truck for my daughter…I’d do it without even thinking.

Although the love I have for my friends is different from how I love my husband and daughter, I do love them. As a friend, there’s nothing I’d rather be than there…even if it means staying up all night to cry, staying out late to laugh, or using up

all my cell phone minutes to listen.

That’s friendship, and I’m there…it’s how I love.

But how do I love my enemies?

One of them is dead…yeah, I consider Osama Bin Laden one of my enemies.

Pure evil, the kind that makes my skin crawl just thinking about it.

Last night when the news leaked out, my Twitter feed was full.

I have to admit that my initial reaction was right along with several that I read, Oh, yeah! We got that sucker!

Thankfully, I made myself stay silent…and consider things. I am learning that it’s not always best to share my emotional reactions with the world, especially in a place where my thoughts can be re-tweeted for all to see.

A friend even texted me, and I replied with a “YAY!”

I didn’t mean that YAY! in a negative, I’m-so-glad-this-jerk-is-dead way…just a what-a-victory-for-the-U.S. way. The people who suffered unspeakable loss on 9/11 now have some type of closure. After what they’ve been through, they deserve that much.

But a man is still dead. That man…as evil as his actions were…stood before God and gave an account for what he had done. And then he received his punishment…where he will spend eternity.

No matter how terrible someone is, the thought of him…or anyone…spending eternity there makes my stomach twist and turn.

Because God is not willing that any…ANY…should perish.

No matter what they’ve done.

On the day of 9/11, I was teaching third grade at a small Christian school in Wisconsin. I remember a certain boy from that class, who was usually on the quieter side and always very thoughtful, asking, “Miss Osmun, (yeah, I wasn’t married yet :)) can we pray for Bin Ladin?”

Holy cow, did he really just ask if we could pray for our enemy?

This eight year old boy?

And so we prayed…and he prayed the most heartfelt prayer of all. “God, I pray that Osama Bin Laden will get saved.”

We moved on from that moment, but I never forgot it. How at a time when it was so natural to not love a person, this third grade boy chose to love.

He chose to love just as our Father does…regardless of what we’ve done or how awful we are.

Because He knows that there’s still hope for us.

That’s just how He loves.

And now we have that opportunity again.

Hang on with me, ok?

Because Bin Laden is gone…and there’s nothing we can do to change that. (And I’m not even going to enter in to whether it was right to kill him or not. I, personally, think there are arguments for both sides.) But there are plenty of evil people still out there…enemies, as we would term them. People who do unspeakably awful things that we can’t even fathom.

And while understanding them may be impossible, praying for them is not.

Neither is loving them.

“I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy.

Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”

Martin Luther King Jr.

Who is God asking you to love today

?