Thought of the Day | Romans 8:38-39 | Christopher Miner
Bleeding Hearts are my favorite flowers that grow in my yard. They bloom in late April/early May and stay for about a month. Sadly, we did not get a lot of blooms this year, but I am glad for the ones we have. (No, I do not have any idea why they would bloom more or less. The flowers were here when I moved in and have survived regardless of/in spite of my negligence.)
The shape of the flowers on Bleeding Hearts has fascinated me ever since I first saw them. It seems, frankly, a bit silly. I cannot think of any reason why the flower should look like that - I have never seen a bee drink their nectar, and imagine they would restrict the flow of pollen more than encourage it. If I consulted some botanical people I would guess there are perfectly good, scientific reasons these flowers grow like they do. And while I tend to be curious, in this case I would rather not know those practical reasons. I much prefer to think these flowers are just whimsy, as if God decided to have a bit of fun when coming up with their shape and color rather then thinking of their utility.
My son tends to look at most things with a very utilitarian eye - if it is not useful he does not see the reason for its existence or importance. I have never asked him his opinion of our Bleeding Hearts, but I suspect he would simply shrug and ask "What are those for?" (He is a teen, by the way, so chances are he does not even know the plant is there.) There is one exception to his practical mindedness, though - his car. Or should I say cars. He has an older, high mileage little thing for day-to-day driving, but his baby, his pride and joy, is a jet black limited edition coupe he purchased about a month ago. Does this black baby get good gas mileage? No. Is it easy to park? No. Does it make sense for a teen to have two running cars when he only has to get himself to work and school? No. And yet, he is positively giddy when driving, looking at, talking about, or thinking about this impractical machine. And yes, there is some resale value in it, but truth be told he just really enjoys everything about that silly car, impracticalities and all.
Henri Nouwen was a Dutch Catholic priest who wrote a lot of really powerful books in the late 20th century. He also served in a community of mentally handicapped people in Canada for many years, which had a profound impact on his thinking. In one of his books he told a story from his time in this community (which I am sure to mess up but I think will still convey the point). He was working with some visiting volunteers, and they were each attending to residents at the home. One of these residents, named Linda, was non-verbal and non-mobile. She needed help with every aspect of her life - dressing, eating, bathing, moving, everything. Nouwen and the volunteers were performing their tasks when he suddenly asked them, "Do you think God loves Linda?" The volunteers, likely rather shocked, all answered as I am sure you and I would - of COURSE God loves Linda! To which Nouwen asked a follow-up question that stopped the volunteers (and me, and many other readers, I imagine) in their tracks: "But what can Linda DO for God?"
Bleeding Hearts, black coupes, Linda - what can they DO? Utility matters, sure, but in the grand scheme of life is that all that counts? Is it not enough for some things to just be, and for us to take delight in their being? And is it not enough for people to just be, without getting caught up in their utility? And is it not enough for you to just be? Can you see yourself as beloved and worthwhile just because you are?
Romans 8 is often cited and can lose some of its power because it is familiar to many of us. Yet the last two verses speak powerfully to our status as human beings based on the death and resurrection of Jesus; that status is love. God's ultimate, unchanging view of us is love - nothing you do or do not do has any impact on this. God the Father requires nothing of you to be loved by him. Jesus asks nothing of you before he dies to provide redemption. The Holy Spirit needs nothing from you and lovingly woos you to be with him. This stand by God toward you and me is utterly impractical and nonsensical - if he wants us to be with him he should require something of us before giving this kind of acceptance, right? That is far more practical, based on our history. Yet apparently God is not all that interested in practicality when it comes to you and me.
Far too many of us, me included, see our worth as an economic proposition - if I produce something, I have value. More production means more value, less production means less value. Every job I have ever had treated me this way. Our mistake, both individually and as a culture, is to transpose this formula onto our relationships. We think our value to God, people, or ourselves is based on what we produce for their (or our) benefit, be that happiness, companionship, money, service, or whatever else may come to mind. But worth and value in relationships was never meant to be economic or mathematical. Our humanity, our existence, confirms our immeasurable value. God through Scripture states this again and again. God cares about Bleeding Hearts and black cars, sure, but we are far more important than those things! (See Matthew 6:26-32.)
Productivity and utility are not bad things. But there are times in our lives when our utility is more like a Bleeding Heart than, say, an apple tree. The God of all things tells us that we are just as worthy of love, joy, and dignity in either circumstance. Do we dare believe him? Another late 20th century Catholic named Brennan Manning says this far better than me (you can hear a similar excerpt here):
Do you believe that the God of Jesus loves you beyond worthiness and unworthiness, beyond fidelity and infidelity - that he loves you in the morning sun and the evening rain - that he loves you when your intellect denies it, your emotions refuse it, your whole being rejects it? Do you believe that God loves without condition or reservation
and loves you this moment as you are and not as you should be?
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