When the music fades

I just watched a lady eat 53 potato skins. That’s almost four pounds of potato skins. I didn’t realize that ESPN now televised competitive eating competitions. It’s quite disgusting. The lady who ate all those potato skins had also consumed four pounds of chopped salad in the quarterfinals, and ten pounds of pasta in the prior round. That ain’t right. And the lady is a skinny-minnie. She is not large at all. And they use phrases like “power-nibble” and “stomach capacity.”

I had a friend today who I thought deserved and needed a hug. But I didn’t give them one. I’m not a hugger, nor am I known as a hugger. And I think that’s part of the problem. I can’t all of a sudden turn into a hugger. Or can I? It seems like a difficult thing to just switch on. But I feel bad.

If you would indulge me for a moment, I wanted to run some lyrics past you from a hymn we sung this past Sunday. Surprise, surprise, it’s about love.

O’ The Deep, Deep Love of Jesus

O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!
Rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me!
Underneath me, all around me, is the current of Thy love
Leading onward, leading homeward to Thy glorious rest above!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
spread His praise from shore to shore!
How He loveth, ever loveth, changeth never, nevermore!
How He watches o’er His loved ones, died to call them all His own;
How for them He intercedeth, watcheth o’er them from the throne!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
love of every love the best!
’Tis an ocean full of blessing, ’tis a haven giving rest!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, ’tis a heaven of heavens to me;
And it lifts me up to glory, for it lifts me up to Thee!

-Samuel T. Francis, 1875

Last week, I read an entry in my Brennan Manning devo that had this quote about being a transparent Christian:

The transparent Christian resembles Jesus, becomes a professional lover who is motivated by compassion in all that he or she thinks, says and does.

And I thought to myself, the title "professional lover" is literally someone who loves people for a living. And I think that's something that we should all strive for.