Real Love is Gritty
Sunday, March 9th, 2008
Someday, I want to visit The Hotel Utah in San Francisco, which hosts an open mic every Monday, featuring a scheduled musician and whoever else wants to play. Every week or so, host JJ Schultz sends me a note, subject line: “The Utah loves you…,” and saying something like: “Hello. Hope you’re doing good. I’m doing pretty good. Blah blah blah.* So-and-so gave a great performance and you can download it here….”
And one of my favorite music stations, KFOG, “World Class Rock,” emails a personalized note to registered Fogheads like me. The note goes something like this: “Dear Susan, Blah blah blah.* Love, KFOG.”
I like those notes. I appreciate knowing what’s waiting for me some future Monday, and it’s especially nice to get a weekly reminder that somebody loves me.
I was reading a couple of them the other day, feeling all warm and fuzzy inside when my brain kicked in — hello, “loves” me? Yeah, right. Me and thousands of other registered rock fans. Not! That is, the sentiment shown here is not even LIKE, much less LOVE. To love a person, one tiny prerequisite is that you know them, right? When I filled out the registration forms, I had to divulge some information, but I’m pretty sure I didn’t submit so much that they would truly know me, much less recognize me on the street.
Maybe knowledge isn’t the distinguishing factor. After all, what about Christians, who are called to love everyone, even strangers? Maybe what gives love its potency is not its label but its action. Y’know, like Jesus said: “If you gave a stranger food, drink, clothing, shelter, medical help, or encouragement in the form of a prison or hospital visit, it’s as though you had given it straight to me” (Susan’s down and dirty summary of Matthew 25:31-46). In other words, “Just Do It.”
In “Pagans, Christianity, and Charity,” Christopher Price cites examples of how Christians began showing a gritty kind of love that was unheard of in the ancient world, (more…)