Forgotten love.

Hosea 13:4-14

        I'd like to convey the recent story of a man, a gay man, who in whatever way he could, helped raise two young boys.  These boys were not his own. As with many gay men of his age, he knew he would never have children of his own and so these boys became like his own.  At the very least he loved them, cherished them in fact. He did for them whatever he could and he had such love that many children do not get from the biologic fathers.  In the fullness of years, one young man got engaged and he did not recognize or remember the love this semi-surrogate father had. The love this gay man felt as it turns out was not remembered, if even recognized or appreciated. It was a terrible hurt for the gay man.  You do things, you love people and you have somewhat of an assumption that the love is reciprocated. No burden was ever put on these boys other than perhaps an occasional phone call or birthday reminder. 

          God led the Jews out of Egypt, fed them, loved them. We are reminded of that in today's passage. The hurt God feels when we His/Her love is not recognized, remembered or reciprocated must be intense.  

          Times do not change it seems.  You do not love to get love in return. You love out of your heart and out of the goodness that you are. In the process though, you open yourself up to incredible hurt.  You might think that surely, your love is recognized and appreciated. It is not always so. It is devastating when your love is not returned.  In fact, your love may have never been reciprocated. Again, devastating.

              If there is a reason to get hurt though, it is for love. Your heart is clean when you love and get hurt. There is in fact no better reason to be hurt by someone than to do so by loving them. Life will hurt you no matter what at times, better it be for love, a noble cause and one that embodies our very essence, the essence of God.

             As God has never and will never stop loving us even as we turn our backs or forget His love, so we should never stop loving. It may hurt at times but you have righteousness on your side. This may not seem helpful to my gay friend who is suffering the hurt of rejection but I hope and pray he will find comfort in the fact that he actually did love and that his heart is clean and clear. 

Yet I have been the Lord your God
   ever since the land of Egypt;
you know no God but me,
   and besides me there is no saviour.
It was I who fed you in the wilderness,
   in the land of drought.
When I fed them, they were satisfied;
   they were satisfied, and their heart was proud;
   therefore they forgot me.
So I will become like a lion to them,
   like a leopard I will lurk beside the way.
I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs,
   and will tear open the covering of their heart;
there I will devour them like a lion,
   as a wild animal would mangle them.