{"id":102,"date":"2012-01-12T12:39:00","date_gmt":"2012-01-12T12:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wordynerdy\/2012\/01\/am-i-my-greatest-love-of-all\/"},"modified":"2012-01-12T12:39:00","modified_gmt":"2012-01-12T12:39:00","slug":"am-i-my-greatest-love-of-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wordynerdy\/2012\/01\/am-i-my-greatest-love-of-all\/","title":{"rendered":"Am I my Greatest Love of All?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/p>\n

Last night, along with the parents of 400 other students, we attended the middle school Choral Concert\u2013not because we have a child who sings in a chorus, but because my 6th<\/sup>\u00a0grade son was picked to accompany the chorales on some sort of percussive gourd thing.<\/div>\n
For one song.\"\"<\/div>\n
The second to last song no less.<\/div>\n
Earlier in the day, my 8th<\/sup>\u00a0grade daughter told me she wanted to go because she had listened to her friends practice.\u00a0 She had been surprised by how many songs were explicitly Christian:<\/div>\n
    \n
  • Oh When the Saints<\/em><\/li>\n
  • Oh Happy Day<\/em><\/li>\n
  • Siyayamba<\/em>\u00a0(We are Walking in the Light of God)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
    As she put it, \u201cI thought you\u2019re not supposed to do anything that has to do with God in school.\u201d<\/div>\n
    She asked me if I knew\u00a0The Greatest Love of All<\/em>\u00a0and I belted:<\/div>\n
    \n
    I believe that children are the future,<\/em><\/div>\n
    <\/em>Teach them well and let them lead the way.<\/em><\/div>\n
    Show them all the beauty they possess inside\u2026<\/em><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
    Wailing and warbling in full out Whitney Houston wannabe mode was not impressive, let me say.<\/div>\n
    But seizing the teachable moment, I asked what she thought of it.<\/div>\n
    \u201cI don\u2019t know. . .\u00a0 Don\u2019t you think it\u2019s a little weird that loving yourself is the greatest love of all?\u00a0 Isn\u2019t loving God the greatest commandment?\u201d<\/div>\n
    Yes!!!\u00a0 I thought to myself.\u00a0 \u201cAnd what\u2019s the 2nd<\/sup>\u00a0greatest commandment?\u201d<\/div>\n
    \u201cLoving your neighbor as yourself?\u201d<\/div>\n
    Whew. \u00a0She\u2019s got the basics.<\/div>\n
    She became impatient when I pursued the conversation, \u201cWhy does everything we talk about end up having to be about all this deep stuff? \u00a0Can\u2019t we just sing more of the Jesus songs and forget about it?\u201d<\/div>\n
    So we sang\u00a0Siyahambe<\/em>\u00a0the rest of the way to the grocery store.<\/div>\n
    As I sat in the dark and listened to all 400 McCall chorus students sing\u00a0The Greatest Love of All<\/em>, I was struck again by how it resonates with our culture.\u00a0 We\u2019re obsessed with self-esteem, with being all we can be, with our own self-actualization.<\/div>\n
    But the song\u2019s story is just too small.<\/div>\n
    \"\"<\/div>\n
    Now I want my kids to have as good a self-concept as any other kid.\u00a0 But there\u2019s a fine line between healthy self-love and noxious self-absorption.\u00a0\u00a0 Yes we should raise strong kids, true to themselves, who know that they\u2019re fearfully and wonderfully made and unconditionally and deeply loved.\u00a0 But learning to love yourself is the greatest love of all?<\/div>\n
    I don\u2019t think so.<\/div>\n
    IMHO, the truest expression of love exists between beings. \u00a0Love generates love.\u00a0 Sitting alone, in no one\u2019s shadow, full of my own dignity doesn\u2019t sound like love.\u00a0 It sounds like loneliness.<\/div>\n
    Oh Happy Day<\/em>\u00a0recognizes that dynamic.\u00a0 We feel happy because we\u2019re in relationship.\u00a0 Jesus washed our sins away.\u00a0 Not only that, but he also stays in relationship:<\/div>\n
    <\/em><\/div>\n
    \n
    He taught me how (oh, He taught me how)<\/em><\/div>\n
    To wash (to wash, to wash)<\/em><\/div>\n
    Fight and pray (to fight and pray)<\/em><\/div>\n
    Fight and pray<\/em><\/div>\n
    And he taught me how to live rejoicing<\/em><\/div>\n
    yes, He did (and live rejoicing)<\/em><\/div>\n
    Oh yeah, every, every day (every, every day)<\/em><\/div>\n
    (oh yeah) Every day!<\/em><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
    Now that\u2019s good news I can sing about.<\/div>\n
    This was first posted on What She Said<\/i><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Last night, along with the parents of 400 other students, we attended the middle school Choral Concert\u2013not because we have a child who sings in a chorus, but because my 6th\u00a0grade son was picked to accompany the chorales on some sort of percussive gourd thing. For one song. The second to last song no less. 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