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by David Jordan

The Ferocity of Love

We begin with the premise: Love is tough. In that toughness, we understand that love is hard. This is true for countless reasons, especially related to hatred, competition, fear and hurt. These looming obstacles create shadows where the love Jesus calls us to falters within our own human frailty. Most of us need extra doses of assistance to move past the pain.

On the other hand, our scriptures declare and our spirits often discover another clear truth woven into the intimate fabric of our lives: love is strong. Often, we are surprised to discover a resiliency we did not anticipate and a grace we did not expect.

Love is tough because it’s hard. It’s tough even more because it’s strong. This love is stronger than we know or can even imagine. It could even be called “ferocious.” That reminds me of Mary Olivier’s poem of the Loaves and Fishes in her work “Logos:”

Why wonder about the loaves and the fishes?

If you say the right words, the wine expands.

If you say them with love

and felt the ferocity of that love

and the felt necessity of that love,

the fish explode into many.

Perhaps the continued miracle that Jesus works in us is that ferocious love expands wine, explodes fish into many, and convinces us that ministry to the world is still a most beautiful gift to us all. Yes, love is tough because it can be truly hard. And thankfully, it is tough because God’s love is more than strong; it’s ferocious. May you feel love’s true ferocity today and throughout this lovely February week. Amen.

If you have not had a chance to experience our latest Sunday worship and sermon, I encourage you to join us for that either on Facebook or on our website: www.fbcdecatur.com. There you will hear in the sermon additional important, and I hope helpful details from “Love Is Tough.”

Love,

David

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