We were lovers who … decided to make the world a better place by slowing down long enough to pay for its improvement—by paying attention, the reverent, even holy attention of love. —Brian McLaren, The Galápagos Islands
Brian McLaren considers how paying attention to tortoises is a form of love:
At each place, [my companions and I] experienced sustained moments of shared, focused attention, so shared and so focused that we forgot ourselves. For significant periods of time, we were drawn out of ourselves into the observation of another, as in another species.
We were thoroughly engrossed by tortoises….
There they were—there we were. Intrigued. Drawn in. Enchanted. For minutes, even hours at a time. Whether in the wild or in a breeding center, we surrendered ourselves to them, to their habits, their pace, their well-being, to seeing the world in light of their needs and interests.
We had given our hearts to these unique creatures that are unique features of this unique world.
The great novelist Marilynne Robinson was once asked by an interviewer, “What single thing would make the world in general a better place?”
She replied, “Loving it more.” [1]
And then the revelation comes: in loving these unique creatures that are unique features of this unique world, we were making the world better.
I do not doubt this in even one neural synapse of my brain….
Our attentive experience of self-forgetfulness and whole-hearted tortoise observation was, in a real way, ecstatic. We were taken out of ourselves in the contemplation of a creature so different from us in many ways, yet like us in others. We had fallen out of our normal concerns and into love, you might say. Or risen into love. Or embarked upon it. Or leapt into it.
Perhaps the old phrase (thanks, Kierkegaard!) “leap of faith” … would be better rendered a leap of love.
I know that both Jesus and Saint Paul said that our faith would save us. And I get that. But I wonder if it is equally true to say that if we are to be saved, it will not be by faith alone but by love as well. After all, didn’t Jesus say that love is the one greatest command, and didn’t Paul say that without love, nothing else we have (including faith that moves mountains) amounts to a hill of beans?… Maybe love includes as a given the kind of faith that really matters. That would certainly be the case if another voice in the New Testament was correct when he said, without qualification, “God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them” (1 John 4:16).
Could that be why … [many people] join one another, and perhaps even join their Creator, in loving these creations, these tortoises…?
I gaze with human benevolence and with a deeper human awareness … of our profound, inescapable kinship.
I gaze with love.
And somehow, the world is made a little better.
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Sarah Young Jesus Calling
Do everything in dependence on Me. The desire to act independently–apart from Me–springs from the root of pride. Self-sufficiency is subtle, insinuating its way into your thoughts and actions without your realizing it. But apart from Me, you can do nothing; that is, nothing of eternal value. My deepest desire for you is that you learn to depend on Me in every situation. I move heaven and earth to accomplish this purpose, but you must collaborate with Me in this training. Teaching you would be simple if I negated your free will or overwhelmed you with My Power. However, I love you too much to withdraw the godlike privilege I bestowed on you as My image-bearer. Use your freedom wisely, by relying on Me constantly. Thus you enjoy My Presence and My Peace.
RELATED SCRIPTURE:
John 15:5 (NLT)
5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.
Additional insight regarding John 15:5: “Fruit” is not limited to soul winning. In this chapter, answer prayer, joy, and love are mentioned as fruit (John 15:7, 11, 12). Galatians 5:22-24 and 2nd Peter 1:5-8 describe additional fruit: qualities of Christian character. Remaining in Christ means (1) believing that he is God’s Son, (2) receiving him as Savior and Lord, (3) doing what God says, (4) continuing to believe in the Good News, and (5) relating in love to the community of believers, Christ’s body.
Ephesians 6:10 (NLT)
10 A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
Additional insight regarding Ephesians 6:10: In the Christian life we battle against rulers and authorities (the powerful evil forces of fallen angels headed by the devil, who is a vicious fighter, see 1st Peter 5:8). To withstand their attacks, we must depend on God’s strength and use every piece of his armor. Paul is not only giving his counsel to the church, the body of Christ, but to all individuals within the church. The whole body needs to be armed. As you do battle against “mighty powers in this dark world,” fight in the strength of the church, whose power comes from the Holy Spirit.
Genesis 1:26-27 (NLT)
26 Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”
27 So God created human beings in his own image.
In the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
Additional insight regarding Genesis 1:27: God made both man and woman in his image. Neither man nor woman is made more in the image of God than the other. From the beginning, the Bible places man and woman at the pinnacle of God’s creation. Neither sex is exalted, and neither is depreciated.
