The writer most
of know as the creator of The Little
Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupery, said: “If you want to build a ship, don’t
herd people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but
rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”
If people
long for the sea, if they yearn to set sail on its immensity, then they will
figure-out how to build a ship. They will discover how to fashion vessels for
their yearning.
long for the sea, if they yearn to set sail on its immensity, then they will
figure-out how to build a ship. They will discover how to fashion vessels for
their yearning.
But, if
people don’t love the sea, if it doesn’t call out to them, then you can put
them to work in a shipyard or enroll them in boatbuilding 101, and there’s still
no guarantee they will ever finish a ship or set sail for the further shore.
people don’t love the sea, if it doesn’t call out to them, then you can put
them to work in a shipyard or enroll them in boatbuilding 101, and there’s still
no guarantee they will ever finish a ship or set sail for the further shore.
It a sense,
the sea creates ships. Likewise, love
creates relationships. In the Sermon on
the Mount, Jesus described the immensity of God’s love for the whole world and
for all people: He said to his
disciples: Be a person who loves like your Father in heaven, “who makes his sun
to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the
unrighteous” (Matthew 5:45).
the sea creates ships. Likewise, love
creates relationships. In the Sermon on
the Mount, Jesus described the immensity of God’s love for the whole world and
for all people: He said to his
disciples: Be a person who loves like your Father in heaven, “who makes his sun
to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the
unrighteous” (Matthew 5:45).
God gives love
freely and generously, without regard for who deserves it and who does not. The
sun rises over places where people honor God and over places where they don’t;
it shines its life-giving light on people who are grateful for it and on people
who think it revolves around them; it warms the skin of people who acknowledge
that it comes from the heart of God and of people who never give it or God a
second thought.
freely and generously, without regard for who deserves it and who does not. The
sun rises over places where people honor God and over places where they don’t;
it shines its life-giving light on people who are grateful for it and on people
who think it revolves around them; it warms the skin of people who acknowledge
that it comes from the heart of God and of people who never give it or God a
second thought.
Rain falls
on fields tended by farmers who go to church, and on people who never darken
the door. It fills the streams of people
who look after their neighbors and of people who can’t be bothered to do
anything for anyone other than themselves.
Rain flows into the water tables and wells of Baptists and Buddhists, of
sinners and saints, of Democrats and Republicans.
on fields tended by farmers who go to church, and on people who never darken
the door. It fills the streams of people
who look after their neighbors and of people who can’t be bothered to do
anything for anyone other than themselves.
Rain flows into the water tables and wells of Baptists and Buddhists, of
sinners and saints, of Democrats and Republicans.
God’s
all-embracing love is the most wonderful and most beautiful reality in the
universe. Divine love draws us toward
itself. That love calls for vessels, and
they are our relationships with other people.
Learning to love and be loved by other people transports us into deeper
experience of God’s love for us.
all-embracing love is the most wonderful and most beautiful reality in the
universe. Divine love draws us toward
itself. That love calls for vessels, and
they are our relationships with other people.
Learning to love and be loved by other people transports us into deeper
experience of God’s love for us.
These
vessels—our relationships—are far from perfect.
They can be rickety and leaky, weather-beaten and damaged. After all, everyone we know is wounded in
some way. All of us hurt. And, as we all know, hurt people hurt people.
vessels—our relationships—are far from perfect.
They can be rickety and leaky, weather-beaten and damaged. After all, everyone we know is wounded in
some way. All of us hurt. And, as we all know, hurt people hurt people.
So our
relationships aren’t always like gleaming cruise ships, gliding confidently and
impressively across the water. Sometimes they’re like dinghies or lifeboats or,
even, rubber rafts. We wonder if they’re
going to make it, and, in this fallen world, sometimes they don’t. Not every
relationship survives a long journey on the open water.
relationships aren’t always like gleaming cruise ships, gliding confidently and
impressively across the water. Sometimes they’re like dinghies or lifeboats or,
even, rubber rafts. We wonder if they’re
going to make it, and, in this fallen world, sometimes they don’t. Not every
relationship survives a long journey on the open water.
But, relationships
are the vessels we have; they are how we go to love and how love comes to
us. So, we keep repairing them, cleaning
away the debris, and patching the sails.
We tend to them, nurture them, pray for them, and make ourselves fit to
be a part of them. And, in
relationships, we take the adventure of real life.
are the vessels we have; they are how we go to love and how love comes to
us. So, we keep repairing them, cleaning
away the debris, and patching the sails.
We tend to them, nurture them, pray for them, and make ourselves fit to
be a part of them. And, in
relationships, we take the adventure of real life.
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