Love and Obsession

     I listen to a lot of audio books on my commute from and to work – I mean a lot! About 21/2 hours a day is spent going back and forth, and these books lead me to some semblance of sanity. Which is helpful since I have so little to begin with…sanity, that is.

     My current travel companion is by writer Patti Callahan, “Becoming Mrs. Lewis”. It is a novelized account of Joy Davidman and her friendship, then love, to writer C. S. Lewis. As I near the end of the book, and the cancer that takes her life, it is becoming bittersweet, in a “Love Story, Lifetime Movie” kind of way. Nevertheless, an excellent book I recommend.

     There is a scene in the book where she and Lewis are going over ideas for the book to become “When We Have Faces”, Lewis’ take on the Greek myth of Cupid and Psyche. At one point, discussing why it was tragic, Lewis said “When love becomes a god, it becomes a devil.” The idea being that any love to obsession turns from love to possession and corrupts the soul. Think of it this way. All that exists in this world God created and called “good”. It has never stopped being so. The overindulgence of those things taken or done in the wrong way leads to obsession and addiction. That love, given the highest place in our heart which should be God’s, has instead become a devil.

     The bible is full of references to this. 

“You cannot be a slave of two masters” (MT. 6:24) 

“If you love the world you cannot love the Father” (1 Jn. 2:15) 

“Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Mt. 6:21) 

     and of course the BIG ONE 

“Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Deut. 5:6). 

     The jist of it is, true love to God requires total sacrifice, but total sacrifice to anyone or anything other than God cannot co-exist with Him.

     Total sacrifice to anything other than God becomes a confinement. A slavish obsession to more and more rules and regulations trying to please, until we cannot move for fear of rebuke, or scorn, or worst, a withdrawal of love. So, are we to all be celibate, self-flagellating little monkeys in a cage, released only to show our failures and punished by a harsh task master? NOT IN THE LEAST!

     Total surrender to God becomes freedom and release from slavery. Rather than forced servitude, we have joyful obedience coming from God’s love rather than our failure. Since it comes from God’s love and is carried out by God’s strength, then we are free to give ourselves to others fully, because we are NEVER without His Love. “I will never leave you or forsake you.” (Heb. 13:5) It’s the ultimate covering of protection. We cannot run so far, fall so deep, or hide so well, that God does not always see us. And always love us.

     So guard your heart, my friends. Be guided by God’s love in you. Even in hurt and pain, which comes to all, you are loved. Remember, He also totally sacrificed for you. He is “all in”, just for you. Rest in His love, His freedom, His Joy.

     I think my next book will be “When We Have Faces”. Probably not an audio book, though. C.S. Lewis can be deep sometimes, and I’d probably crash trying to use a highlighter on the car stereo.