Dear Eugene

Dear Eugene, Rain this morning.  Finally, again, after a good run of dry spell. Again. Why again ?  Who am I to say this morning's rain is comparable to the last rain I've experienced?  Who am I to say they are the same ? God gives us discernible patterns for us to make sense of life and finally to know him more, but with the underlying, imperative caveat: You can't pin me down . Of course we say, Well, I don't do that.  When did I do that? When we say this rain is just like that rain.  This person belongs to that group of persons (so to justify my disdain).  This view can be lumped into that agenda (so to nurture my hatred).  This action of yours reminds me of that awful   memory of mine (and I hereby serve you a death sentence at Hello, without you even knowing). When we say this  very morning is just like every other previous morning, and I see no reason to greet it any differently than the way it has always been wor...

Dear Eugene, Every new thing gets old the moment right after it happens. The moment we grab hold of a new thing and say we can now then live the rest of our life under the new light it sheds the moment its life-anchoring power slips through our palms.  To unbox a new phone is to forget where I put the box, a womb opened in zeal, a coffin misplaced for a quick burial soon needed.  To fall in love is to begin to fall out of love. Yet every once-new old thing in our life matters: tradition, habit, history, back-end language, tribal handshake, the comfort and joy to know what to expect, the burden and sorrow we can't undo. I'm going where the sun keeps shining Through the pouring rain Going where the weather suits my clothes Banking off of the northeast winds Sailing on a summer breeze And skipping over the ocean like a stone If only the sun can stay new, hot but not too hot, warm, warm enough, for me.  If only I don't need to share the sun with anyone who ...

Dear Eugene, "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." Such is the most well-known translation of 1 John 4:8.  It's pretty direct and succinct, and I thought who can translate the words any differently? But this is your take of the text:  " The person who refuses to love doesn’t know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can't know him if you don't love ." You've drawn out the implication of a statement, a proposition, that could be quite abstract and thus not energizing. Still, back to the three words: God is love .  Everything that has ever been spoken about God comes down to these three simple words. The three words close many doors and open a new one every new moment. They don't say God loves to love.  They don't say God would rather that we love or love more or love better or love the right things or even love our enemies.  These might be the implications of the three words but the t...