Surprised by Love

It happened to me a few weeks ago while staying with my aunt when I visited Miami.

She lives in an apartment complex on the third floor. On one particular morning, I felt the need to move my body and stepped outside for a quick walk. At first I didn’t notice much, but then these two school aged girls caught my eye. They wore oversized backpacks and were dressed in blue school uniforms; they looked adorable with their big hair bows on their neatly braided hair. Mom came out the door soon after to accompany them to the school bus stop. This family of 3 walking ahead of me pulled my attention from myself to the world around me, the small yet huge world on the third floor of this apartment building.

Up next, I noticed a man dressed in scrubs leaving for work hurriedly. I turned a corner and was greeted by a cat that sat contently on a windowsill and followed my gaze with great curiosity. I noticed an apartment door fully decorated for the season. The more I walked the more I was absorbed into all the observable details of the fullness of life happening on that third floor. I began wondering about what these strangers’ lives were like. Passing a big aloe plant.. Have they ever used it to treat a burn? A stack of shoes outside one door… This family likes a clean floor. Christmas wreath hanging (in February)… Maybe their lives are too overwhelming right now. Hurricane shutters up (again, in February)... How does it feel living in constant darkness? An elderly man using a walker with great effort… Jesus, have mercy. My wonderings turned to prayers. At first, petitions were flowing from my heart; soon after, I felt as if I was simply hearing Jesus pray. 

I could sense God’s love and Christ’s intercessions drenched in compassion and understanding. Something unexpected was taking place in my heart. A gushing of sorts. Love. So much love that I could barely contain it. I was feeling a tiny, manageable fragment of God’s love for all the beings on the third floor. My heart hurt even with just that little portion. Tears flowing freely and I was already on my third loop around the building, staring once again at the cat on the windowsill who seemed to smile at me this time around.

Today I’m in Kansas speaking at a women’s retreat. Yesterday I went for a walk around my host’s neighborhood. Maybe it was the newness of my surroundings, maybe a tourist’s curiosity, but I lived a similar experience as the one in Miami. I didn't feel the same emotional intensity, this one was a lot more manageable, but still, I found myself caught up in Jesus’ heart for the people in this neighborhood. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven…

As I was uttering prayers for those I didn’t know I wondered if others who haven't known me have ever prayed for me. I have a feeling the answer is yes. Have strangers been moved to compassion for me or loved me without my awareness? Probably. I imagine God’s eternal and infinite love traveling through the hearts of all kinds of people in all kinds of places and ages, pulsating in holy rhythms, being active participants in the kingdom of God, from generation to generation. 

This is a movement I want to be a part of.