Vertigo

5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him…12 After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. 14 So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. 15 For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. (John 13:5, 12-15)

“Your love is teaching me how to kneel” is how this song called Vertigo ends. After saying repeatedly “you give me something I can feel,” the song concludes by saying that Love teaches us to kneel.

When we talk about sharing God’s love with the world, are we talking about an abstract emotion (the romance of Valentine’s day)--a feeling--or are we talking about the sacrificial, vulnerable love of the servant who washes the dirt and dust of the journey off of others’ feet?

The longer I study, pray, and experience God’s love the more convinced I become that “God’s Love” is not an emotion meant to just coddle and comfort us; rather, God’s Love is a verb that transforms us from broken to whole, that leads us from lonely isolation to places of connection, that helps us move from the identification as worthless sinner to beloved child. God’s Love kneels before us, pours water into a basin, and washes the dirt of our life journey away and THEN says, “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”  We're told to do something with our love on behalf of those who need to know about this kind of love.

Go to the place called Vertigo. Walk with God to the mountain tops of life, but remember that we are never meant to stay on the mountains. Let God’s Spirit lift up your days and light up your nights, but don’t forget to let God’s love teach you how to kneel, too.