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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: Love (04/27/06)
336w

“Excelsior!” I shouted, charging to the fray. Any fray would do, in my youthful reckoning. I battled for “love” and any purpose elevated beyond what I imagined my coarse adversaries could discern. Or so I thought. Older and wiser now, made so with walking and listening with Love Himself, Jesus, my passions are slowly becoming tempered in His light. “Excelsior,” for example, and according to any dictionary, is packing material made from wood chips. Wood chips! Packing material? What a deserved “come-uppance” for those who ignore the “come hither.”

Not that I believe our passions shouldn’t be ignited when we try to do good. On the contrary, Jesus commands us in many ways to be on-fire for Him. Jesus told us the greatest commandment is to love the Lord our God with all of our mind, soul and strength, and because we love Him, we can love other people in His Name. Paul chides that we can be totally gifted and excel at many things, but without love, we are as a noisy gong. I interpret that to mean loud, irritating and ineffective for the task at hand. Sort of like substituting a scream -- “excelsior” -- when a caring touch is needed.

From the beginning, all that has ever mattered in this life is loving God, through Jesus, His Son. Pleasing Him, in love, is our greatest goal. Then, we will have crowns to throw at His feet when we see Him face-to-face. That’s what we are told the elders in heaven do and are doing. We can meditate about how overcome they must be with His goodness and glory. They are speechless and the only adequate expression of their love and adoration is to fall prostrate and give Him all they could take to heaven with them – those crowns. If there is any sorrow in heaven, it would have to be that there are not more crowns to present to Jesus. I don’t want to have that regret.
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Member Comments
Member
Date
Helen Paynter
05/08/06
I enjoyed this, but felt it would have benefited from a little more 'unpacking'. One or two bits I didn't quite understand. Told with humour and style, however.