Be a voice of love

“Come to the edge,” the voice said.

“I’m afraid,” he replied.

“Come to the edge,” the voice repeated.

“I’m scared,” he said again.

“Come to the edge” the voice repeated a third time.

He went to the edge and was pushed. However, instead of falling, he flew.

I was reminded of that story when I saw a quote from Patrick Overton. He wrote: “When you come to the edge of all the light you have, and must take a step into the darkness of the unknown, believe that one of two things will happen. Either there will be something solid for you to stand on – or you will be taught how to fly.”

There will be times when all of us will stand at the edge of all the light we have. At that moment, I’m not suggesting that we jump off bridges or buildings, or leap off mountain peaks. I’m suggesting rather that we make a leap of faith into God’s arms.

As I’ve said before, life is mostly a choice between love or fear. Love opens up infinite possibilities. Fear shuts down virtually every possibility. I’m suggesting we choose love.

Our love is rooted in faith – faith in a faithful God. As the letter to the Hebrews so eloquently puts it, “Faith is confident assurance about things we hope for, and certainty about things we do not see.”

When we look through the lens of love, we see, not with sight, but with insight. When we look through the lens of fear we see mostly darkness!

We live in challenging economic times. When we cope with unemployment and illness and the like, it’s sometimes hard to imagine that there is even a God, much less that God loves us and cares for us. At those moments, our only job is to trust. If we don’t give up on God, God won’t give up on us. As the old Spiritual goes, “God will find a way, where there is no way.”

Recently I was reading an article about Mickey Mantle, one of the greatest baseball players of all times. What I didn’t know is that Mantle was so discouraged with his early performance in the big leagues that he wanted to quit baseball. It was the voice of his father, a father at the time who was dying of cancer, who encouraged Mickey to persevere. The father wouldn’t give up in the face of cancer. Mickey knew he couldn’t give up in the face of adversity.

And all of us, in times of stress and adversity, need a voice other than that critical voice inside our own heads. Maybe this article will be that voice to someone. Maybe you will be that voice to someone else. Life is simply too long and too tough to make it alone. We all need each other.

Perhaps it is the final darkness that frightens all of us – the darkness of death. St. Paul rightfully said that the last enemy to be defeated is death. Facing certain physical annihilation is not easy for any of us. Here is where all of us need the lens of faith and the power of love. Christ has already defeated death. You and I only have to claim the victory. Beyond our physical death is not endless night, but endless light. I can’t prove that. I can only believe that. I can only trust a love that promised that.

Allow me to close with a final quote, “The King of Kings will raise his pierced hand and proclaim, ‘No more’. The angels will stand and the Father will speak, ‘No more.’ Every person who lives and who ever lived will turn toward the sky and hear God announce, ‘No more.’ No more loneliness. No more tears. No more death. No more sadness. No more crying. No more pain.”

A lovely quote from Max Lucado. No more fear. Only love.