Love

 

Miroslav Volf sums up some wonderful thinking in a chapter of Exclusion and Embrace like this:

 

Though the goal of self-giving

is the mutuality of perfect love

the road toward this goal

in a world of enmity

often leads through the narrow paths

of one-side giving of the self for the other

 

The model for the goal

is the eternal embrace of the divine persons;

the model for the difficult road toward the goal

is Christ’s embrace of humanity on the cross.

 

We want to live in community as God’s people (and have a marriage, maintain a friendship). We want to make peace (between people and God, between factions in the Congo). It helps me today to remember my goal and the road toward it, the Source of my goal and the Lord’s expression of God’s heart.

Tags: love, Volf