I just watched the movie, Eat, Pray, Love. I certainly had an affinity for the beauty and cultures (read: food!) that she experienced, but I found her answer to life's great question far too easy: "God is within you, as you." How convenient. If God is in me, then all I need to is love myself. Perhaps the case could be made that if God is in me, then I am also obligated to love others, but if I am God, cannot I do whatever I like?
The Scriptures would say, "No," to a degree. God is love, therefore He must love. I, however, am a selfish, weak human who can barely muster the strength to love people that get under my skin. Sure, I may not be mean outright, but if the world could hear the words that my spirit mutters, all would be made plain. If I congratulate myself on an act of charity, honesty prods me to acknowledge that even when I do something loving, there are times when I hold back. I hold back because true selfless love costs me too much. It is inconvenient. Do I clean up after dinner for my 80-year-old mother even if I haven't eaten? Not today. What about the annoying family friend that drops in unexpectedly? Do I listen to them as attentively as I ought? Do I truly love them when they are present? Oftentimes not.
Even as I fail at doing what I ought to do, I am drawn to things that challenge me. I don't like easy answers. I mean, I like 'em, but not really. Easy is easy, so where is the satisfaction in that? I prefer things like, "Turn the other cheek..." or "love your neighbor..." which includes those who aren't so "easy" to love. See a pattern here?
Perhaps the beauty of a title like Eat, Pray, Love is that each one is progressively harder than the last. Eat? Easy. Pray? Possibly. Love? God help me.
