Over the past twelve years, I have witnessed many couples exchange wedding vows in front of me and their loved ones. Some are visibly nervous, others speak with great conviction, while a few can hardly pronounce the words due to tears of joy. It is impossible to remain indifferent while in attendance at a wedding: some miss their spouse who has died, others renew their personal commitment to each other, others still wonder when his or her true love will appear, and unfortunately for others, it is a reminder of a painful relationship that came to a bitter end.
Despite the repeated experience of brokenness, loss, and betrayal throughout life, every human person still longs for acceptance and love. It may appear to be a hopeless desire since every experience leaves us wanting. Some time ago, I came across a song in Spanish that downheartedly expresses, “the more I try to break through the wall, the more scars I have.” Our longing for wholeness and purpose appears to leave us wanting – no matter how hard we attempt to break through the walls of life, we are oftentimes left in the same place with the scars resulting for our attempts at reaching a better place.
Saint John writes “no one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us.” The scars that our deepest longings create can only be healed by the infinite love that God offers us. The Good News God offers in Jesus Christ is that each one of us is a beloved son or daughter of God the Father, and as children of the Father, we are heirs of an eternal kingdom. The God we cannot see manifests Himself through the love we share with others – though broken and wanting – it is precisely there, that we learn to love with the gratuitous love of the Father.
Jesus said to his disciples, “for if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same… but rather, love your enemies and do good to them.” The instruction to love is a difficult one, and in the end, if one loves well, there will be scars to show.
The same song mentioned above describes in its opening lyrics a “beach of desire in the midst of an ocean of hope.” Just as the water from the waves that crash into the shore continues to be sucked up by the sand of the beach, our desires are never quite quenched by the hopes that come our way. We are like a beach of desire never fully satisfied by the earthly hopes and promises that we absorb. True love is not found, but rather gifted to us, by a God who loves us into existence and challenges us to make present to others the same love he has shown us. Our desires will only be fulfilled by a God who loves us infinitely, who embraces us and accepts us because we are his beloved children.
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