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What is the Speed of Love

In sections of Montana the speed limit used to be defined by words, not numbers. Drivers
designated their own speed limit by what they deemed to be “reasonable and prudent.” That was the speed limit. It’s recorded that the police clocked one guy going 150 mph. I laughed when I read that, but then I realized sometimes I’m the one going 150 mph.
 
Last week in this space, I wrote about the importance of occasionally unplugging in hopes of
slowing ourselves down. Life moves so quickly, we have so many distractions, and it can be hard to slow down and actually listen to the Lord. Do you think you are missing out on living the
Jesus life because you are traveling too fast? This has made me ask, “what is the speed of love?”
 
In searching for an answer to my question, I stumbled upon perhaps the coolest named
theologian, Kosuke Koyama, who wrote this:
 
God walks “slowly” because He is love. If He is not love, he would have gone much
faster. Love has its speed. It is an inner speed. It is a spiritual speed. It is a different kind
of speed from the technological speed to which we are accustomed. It goes on in the
depth of our life, whether we notice or not, whether we are currently hit by the storm or
not, God moves at three miles an hour. It is the speed a human walks, and therefore it is
the speed the love of God walks. (Kosuke Koyama, Three Mile an Hour God)
 
I’m still pondering Koyama’s thought, but one thing I’ve come to believe is that it’s possible for
me to move too fast and to miss my opportunities to love, and in essence to truly live.

In Luke 10 someone once asked Jesus, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus bounced the question back at him, and we are told the conversation ensued as follows:

He [the question asker] answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind;’ and
‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live” (Luke
10:27-28).
 
Jesus’ answer has always been interesting to me. Jesus seems to be saying that it’s possible to
live without really living, or else he wouldn’t have answered the way he did. I think Jesus was
speaking to every one of us. I think He was implying, “Do you want to truly live? Then make
sure you are living at the speed of love. Make sure you aren’t moving so fast that you actually
miss out on the point of it all: love.”
 
I’ve written the past two newsletters mostly for myself. I, like all of us, need constant reminders
to travel at a “reasonable and prudent” speed so I can properly love my neighbor. What speed do you currently find yourself traveling at? How’s it working for you?
 
Peace,
Nick