The love of a Grandmother

My grandmother died today. At 47 I am fortunate to have had a grandparent still living. It is even more surprising when I realize that she has been my only living grandparent for 25 years. She never did anything great, she never even attempted anything great, but her life had meaning and purpose, she loved Jesus, other people and me.

In John's first letter (1 John) he makes many profound points but the most important is that we can't just love God and be Christians. We have to love the other people who love God. He says that love must be shown towards others, not a theoretical construct of our imagination. Unless we love the people of God we have a theoretical construct of God not a real God. John gets that from God Himself who sent His only Son to die for us, He showed us love. God's love isn't a theory and our love for Him can't be either, it has to show itself and love and service to others. Love in the Christian world isn't just an emotion, it is an active verb.

My grandmother loved people not in an abstract way, but in ways that you knew you were loved. She would do anything for me, I was the oldest grandson and her favorite. It sometimes made me feel terrible because she so clearly favored me, but deep down I liked it a little too. I didn't do anything to have her love me, I was born the first son of her only son and that was enough for her to love me completely. My faith in Jesus means God loves me just like that.

Brennan Manning tells the story of a man named Ed Farrell, who traveled from his home in Detroit to spend a two-week vacation in Ireland to celebrate hisuncle’s eightieth birthday. When the great day dawned, Ed and his uncle rose early to greet the sun. They walked along the shores of Lake Killarney, loving the emerald green grass and crystal blue waters. For twenty minutes they watched the scene together in silence. Then the uncle began to do an unusual thing for an eighty-year-old man: He began to skip along the shore of the lake, smiling like a schoolboy in love. Ed was puffing hard as he tried to catch up with him.
“Uncle Seamus, you look very happy. Do you want to tell me why?”
“Yes,” said the old man, tears streaming down his face. “You see, the Father is very fond of me. Ah my Father is so very fond of me.”