July 1, 2022 – Words of Wisdom, Charles Dickens

“Every good and perfect gift is from above…”

“What greater gift than the love of a cat.” Charles Dickens
 

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.” James 1:17-18

“Every good and perfect gift is from above…”  

This beautiful sentence is more musical in the Greek language – and is thought to be the fragment of some ancient Christian hymn. There are two different Greek words that encapsulate our one word gift – which of course has two meaning. The first meaning is the act of giving – I gift you my love. The second meaning is the gift itself – I gift you this gift, my love. The effect of both reminds us of the reality of G-d’s good and gracious nature.

This text reminds us of the dual nature of G-d’s love for us – G-d gifts us G-d’s greatest gift, G-d’s love — even when we do not deserve the gift at all. And the love G-d gifts us is like no other love we will ever receive – it is unconditional, and it is unending. And if we are to be, as James so eloquently puts it, “..a kind of first fruits of his creation”, then we should, above all things, share the love of G-d with everyone we meet. G-d’s love is best expressed to us through the cross of Jesus Christ. It is the sacrificial, self-giving kind of love that we are to model our love for others. The Hebrew word “Ahava” means love – but more importantly it means a love in which we give before we receive – in which we give more than we receive. For it is in giving to others that we show our love.

My cats give love unabashedly, and without expectation, though they provide so many gifts I may not be so grateful for, like hairballs and full cat pans. But we can learn a lot from cats – especially in how we can model our love. I just need to make sure I feed my cats by 5:00pm – or else they may question that love…

Let us pray,

Lord Christ, although my cats may parcel out love from time to time, your love is always available, and always without conditions. Help me to love others with this same kind of love. Amen.

Pastor Dave