Sunlight and Thunder

What kind of God do we serve?
One who knows we will never be able to fully understand Him, but gave us a whole book about Himself because He wants us to try.
He is a God who loved us for no other reason than that He wanted to.
He is a perfect God, who loves with a perfect and boundless love. A love that is at once the simplest joy, and darkest mystery. Simple because it is pure. It is only love. He loves us because it pleases Him. He needs no other reason. We need no other reason. There could be no other reason. A mystery because we will never know why. We will never know why it pleases God to love the vilest thing in the universe.
But He does love us. He loves us and He wants us with Him. Not for an hour, or for a day, but for eternity. He loves us so much that He wasn't going to leave that in our hands. He knows us; knows us better than we will ever know ourselves. He knows what kind of a mess we would have made of things if He had left it up to us. No, He loved us so much that He came Himself. It was as though He said with His voice like many waters, "I will do this, and then it will be sure. I will do this, for there is none else. I will pay the price, because I love them."
So He came. And He died. The blood of God was shed for love. Perfect blood for perfect love. For you. For me.
He is a God who loved us enough that He even blesses us beyond eternity. As if the promise of being with Him forever was not enough, He sees fit to give us all things while we live here on this earth.
He is a God who does not bless us with just enough. He is too big for that. He will give and He will give, because there is no end of Him. He is always enough and infinitely more. How great is His love! How much He gives to us! And gives and gives. Why? Because He loves us. He seems determined to outlove everyone, to show that "I am God, and there is none like me." To show that no one can love like Him.
He is a God who sends cool breezes on a hot summer's day. Who paints a sunset every night for you, and a sunrise every morning. He made the sound of wind in the trees, and gave you the ears to hear it. He makes a girl's eyes sparkle like that when she laughs. He made the feel of cool grass on bare feet. He gave you friends to show you a pale echo of His love.
He is a God who loves us so much, that He is coming back to get us.
Coming Himself. Coming for all His children, who He loved so much He wrote their names in the very palms of His hands. And then those hands were pierced, and His blood covered those names. And then we were free.
What does He ask for all of this? It is simple. As simple and as daunting as the mountains and the sea.
He wants us to love Him back.

Happy...Something

So the post right below this one was the 5oth. That only took, what, three years? A nice average of something like 16.67 posts a year. About 1.38 posts per month. Although, as you can see (if you've bothered to look) the posting pattern has not been nearly that regular. It started off with a bang and then it came in sparks and fizzles. Then I became bored with the whole thing and gave it up; consigned it to a cold, lonely corner of the internet, alone, with only the flitting company of the occasional internet drifter, who only paused long enough to see that yes, the blog was still dead. Rather like those who passed by the ruins of Jerusalem all those years ago.
And then, suddenly, new life! But the landscape has changed. The neighbors moved away and someone built a nice coffee shoppe (see how much more sophisticated it looks when you spell it that way?) where their house used to be. Blogging is no longer the craze it once was. Gone are the days when one could expect ten or fifteen comments on a post. Now you are lucky to get two or three.
But perhaps this is not so bad. Yes, the blogging community is smaller now, but it seems to be closer knit group, a group that shares more than amusing anecdotes, but their thoughts about the universe and all of the interesting things happen in it. I am more pleased with those two or three comments, because the authors of those comments have said more than all fifteen of the other ones combined.
And have my posts changed to reflect this new enviroment? They have. I was reading my old posts (because I am that vain) and I was struck with how funny I used to be. Call me Pride, but seriously, I was pretty impressed with myself. I wondered why I couldn't write things like that anymore. Why wasn't I funny?
I guess the reason I don't write funny posts anymore is because of that change in enviroment. I'm not writing to please the masses any more. There aren't any masses to please, for one thing, but also, I really don't care if I get fifteen comments telling me how hilarious I am. I write more serious posts now because I want them to mean something. Yes, my old posts may tell you what to do when you are falling out of a plane and are on fire, but that's all there is to it. You will laugh and then promptly forget. You haven't had any thoughts provoked, you aren't encouraged to see things any differently. I think maybe that is why I don't write funny things any more. I want to do more than just make people laugh. I want to make them think.
Maybe, someday, I will find a way to be both funny and thought provoking. It is possible. I've seen it done.