U2 – “No Ordinary Love” — Video Download for U2.com subscribers.
Yep! I’m a huge U2 fan. Me and a few other million friends. They’re an extraordinary band not only because their melodies so easily latch on to our auditory taste buds, but more importantly their lyrics speak to a much deeper place in our soul. U2’s music evokes memory and dreams and hopes. They aren’t the pop flavor of the day, they speak messages of wisdom, if we have ears willing to hear. A vision beyond visibility becomes a possibility when one is appropriately inspired.
I’m so looking forward to hearing all the songs that will ultimately comprise the soundtrack of Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom Not only is Mandela a mentor and inspiration for Bono personally, but also he holds a special place in people’s hearts all over the world who have seen or experienced or are touched by suppression, imprisonment, injustice or perhaps are fighting for freedom and human rights.
Even if you’re not a freedom fighter who has taken to the streets, you may be a prayer warrior or encourager somewhere in the life or lives of those who struggle. That’s what Jesus did when he read these prophetic words from the book of Isaiah to the people of Nazareth:
“The Lord has put his Spirit in me,
because he appointed me to tell the Good News to the poor.
He has sent me to tell the captives they are free
and to tell the blind that they can see again.
God sent me to free those who have been treated unfairly. Luke 4:18
I have a friend who for a long span of time wasn’t free. For a time he was held captive internally by choices, as well as externally by unjust circumstances. So as I wrote to the face of a friend I’ve never met until very recently, I reminded him that “You don’t have to walk around outside to taste freedom.” You can get free inside first. In fact, it’s probably a good idea. And just because there are so many things you can’t see at this time, doesn’t mean you can’t have a vision of what life will look like soon, very soon.
This is seeing: Believing what right now you can only hope for and resting confidently in assurance that God will use your hour of trial or suffering and turn it into something beautiful, or redemptive. But it requires something of you first:
No Ordinary Love
Extraordinary love requires faith, being confident in that which you hope for and being sure of what you can not see. (Hebrews 11:1) That’s no ordinary love. Extraordinary love also requires sacrifice; it’s going to cost you something you value: your time, your money, your safety, your reputation, your safety net or perhaps your freedom. In some cases, even your very life.
“We can’t fall any further if we can’t feel ordinary love.” Show someone in need some love today. Take the plunge. Give until it hurts. Give with all you’ve got. And even when you’re drowning in your own personal ocean of adversity and difficulty, remember you were loved first by no ordinary love, so this pain you feel from time to time is only your heart cracking around the hard places until it becomes smooth as polished precious stones.
Don’t give up. Look up. Reach higher. Assist the poor. Minister to the hurting. Forgive what seems unforgivable. Show love in the name of freedom, in the name of justice and mercy, in the name of compassion, in the name of righteousness and then wait, and watch what God will do. Perhaps if we each can show love to even just one, especially the difficult one, God can transform the ordinary to extraordinary.
May you find ways to show love today and be joyful in the anticipation of what God can do with just a bit of ordinary love.
POST SCRIPT 12/06/2013: I started this entry about a week ago. But I didn’t finish. God had other plans. I saw some miracles this week and witnessed first hand just how fast God can transform an isolated captive person into a person being released into freedom and into loving capable hands. ALL THIS, on the day Nelson Mandela has passed. The world lost a true hero, a compassionate soul, and someone who fully understood this truth: “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins.” (1 Peter 4:8) Rest in peace Nelson Mandela. And welcome home too. You leave a legacy of powerful truth spoken in love for the rest of us to aspire to.
Allow me to close with some wisdom of Nelson Mandela, who capably showed us light can chase away the dark and love is stronger than hate:
“For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” —Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela
“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” —Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela
u2areloved 