Furious Love: Priceless

When I started writing, I did it to give myself an outlet to pour out and process all of the hurt and confusion that I was going through in my life. In the 21 years since, writing has been one of the greatest sources of therapy for me. And that includes blogging. Sometimes, I publish things knowing that they won’t be read by very many, and that they’ll be understood by even fewer, but that they are things I need to say—or that I need to hear. And when I look back at the things I’ve shared, the posts that touch me, personally, the most deeply, are the ones that most clearly share the love of God.

Like the story of Starr Daily, who was in prison, chained to a wall, to die, when Jesus walked into the cell with him…

Or the story of the little mute boy, who found love in the arms of a Hispanic grandmother on a bus, the day before he was murdered…

Or the painful lessons I learned about how to love until it hurts…

Or learning that even when the world finds me worthless, God finds me priceless.

The last few weeks, as we’ve read Brennan Manning’s “The Furious Longing of God,” I’ve remembered what it’s like to be loved completely, unconditionally, and intensely. And this week, when I read Brennan Manning’s story about Yolanda, and I wept. And I decided that for the sake of those who haven’t been reading the book, I’d share an excerpt:

“‘Brennan, can you come quick and pray with Yolanda? She’s dying, Brennan.’

…Yolanda is a woman thirty-seven years old. Five years ago, before the leprosy began to ravage, she must have been one of the most stunningly beautiful creatures God ever made….But that was then. Now her nose is pressed into her face. Her mouth is severely contorted. Both ears are distended. She has no fingers on either hand…. Two years earlier, her husband divorced her because of the social stigma attached to leprosy, and he had forbidden their two sons…from ever visiting their mother…. Yolanda was dying an abandoned, forsaken woman.

I anointed Yolanda with oil and prayed with her….

I said, ‘Yolanda, you appear to be very happy.’

With her slight Mexican-American accent she said, ‘Oh Father, I am so happy….the Abba of Jesus just told me that He would take me home today.’

I vividly remember the hot tears that began rolling down my cheeks. After a lengthy pause, I asked just what the Abba of Jesus said.

Yolanda said:

COME NOW, MY LOVE. MY LOVELY ONE, COME.

FOR YOU, THE WINTER HAS PASSED, THE SNOWS ARE OVER AND GONE, THE FLOWERS APPEAR IN THE LAND, THE SEASON OF JOYFUL SONGS HAS COME.

THE COOING OF THE TURTLEDOVE IS HEARD IN OUR LAND.

COME NOW, MY LOVE. MY YOLANDA, COME.

LET ME SEE YOUR FACE. AND LET ME HEAR YOUR VOICE, FOR YOUR VOICE IS SWEET AND YOUR FACE IS BEAUTIFUL.

COME NOW, MY LOVE, MY LOVELY ONE, COME.

Six hours later her little leprous body was swept up into the furious love of her Abba. Later that same day, I learned from the staff that Yolanda was illiterate. She had never read the Bible, or any book for that matter, in her entire life. I surely had never repeated those words to her in any of my visits. I was, as they say, a man undone.”

(from Brennan Manning’s “The Furious Longing of God,” pp. 53-56)

What an irresistible love! I sit in my imperfection and weakness, and know I’m not worthy of such love. But I’m unspeakably grateful that He loves me anyway. The world may find me and Yolanda worthless, but God finds us priceless. He finds you priceless, too.

I don’t know about you, but I needed to hear that today.

This post is part of a weekly book discussion that my friend, Jason Stasyszen and I co-facilitate. Our current book is Brennan Manning’s “The Furious Longing of God.” You don’t have to be reading the book to participate in the discussion. If you have written a blog post in response, please link it up at the widget below.