When All Else Fails--Love

There are times that I simply do not know what to say or what to do. I got nothin'.

The problem is that many times we try to fill the empty spaces of life. The other day at my Kiwanis club meeting, my fortune cookie said, "A closed mouth tastes no feet." I find myself afraid of the moments that I simply have no response.

With the anniversary of 9/11, I find myself with so many feelings. I got nothin.

There is a part of me that still knows the shock and horror of the day. I watched in disbelief with the students at Centenary College in Shreveport where I was chaplain. I began to pray with college kids who had family and friends in NYC. I helped students make contact with family and friends. I found myself wanting to hear the sound of my family's voices to know that they were alright. It was a helpless feeling.

Then I am confronted with the lingering sorrows in life. I still tear up to think of mothers, fathers, children, uncles, aunts, grandparents.--lost by the action of a few misguided religious zealots. How much harm can we do in the name of religion---not just other religions but our own as well. The extreme radicals in all faiths are a threat to the peace that God wishes our world to have.

And this week, the reckless actions of a small church preacher who thinks that his understanding of rights and condemnation supersedes the safety of our nation as well as those who are serving our nation. I am distressed at how the media of our day has focused itself on the "spec" of life that offers hatred instead of the world of compassion and grace. Why would we give such hatred so much attention?

Many in the world have turned to the cycle of violence out of a sense of helplessness and frustration. Humans do that when they are afraid and full of themselves. How much destruction must take place for us to learn that violence births violence. And the supreme example that stands in contrast to the world's yearning for violence is our salvation--the cross. It is the cross that insists the world's violence will not ultimately win.

Paul warns us in the 13th chapter to the church at Corinth. The church at Corinth was at war within itself. They were a fighting church--fighting with each other. Paul instructed them, " If you have all the power to do everything, but have not what? Love. Love is the answer." When all else fails, love wins. Love works. It is the greatest of motivators. It is the greatest of all. Love can change this world.

Next time you find yourself saying, "I got nothin'", Love. When you're life is filled with uncertainty and raw emotion--love.