Making Way

Love creates space.  Love makes way.

A very long time ago God gave the people of Israel Ten Words to follow that they would be set apart from the rest of the world.  They would show that love had created a space for people.  That's what restoration is.  It is people and God occupying the same space.  God has shown Israel and us that in the space He has created, there is pattern to the flow of life.  It was beautiful, but the greatest Word which was given was to Love the Lord God.  Make way for God to make way.  This Word was important because it bound the other Words together. God created and gave for us first, so our response is to let Him continue.  Make space for God to make way.  Righteousness, or justice before God comes when we have the space to receive it from Him.

As I've studied helping skills in the past couple of years, one of the reoccurring trends in practice is the art of submission.  Submission is necessary for counseling on many levels, but here's an example.  Problem solving in client-centered therapy is all about having the client develop a plan which will create positive change in their life.  While the client is to build their plan with as much autonomy as possible, the worker is present with the client in order to gently guide them toward a line of thinking which will begin to break the person away from their current destructive behaviors.  In this exchange, both the client and the worker must submit and create space for the other to bring life.  If one side is dominating, the session will degrade into something less than what it is supposed to be.

Love requires submission because love is not selfish.  Love creates space for another to act.  It is the forfeit of one will for another.  We submit to God to create space for Him, and He, in turn, submits to us to create space for us.  Jesus Himself claimed to be the Way, creating the ultimate space for humanity by submitting Himself to death.  But there's more.

God would also give Israel the command to love the people around them.  Life has always flown through God's created space by people creating ways for that life to flow freely.  Jesus would later tell all those who follow Him to adhere to this command today.  Why, when so often we are right?  So often we desire liberty from those who are wrong.  So often the easiest way to deal with something we disagree with is to destroy it. But this is not what we are called to.  We are called to submit to each other in love.  The question then becomes, what will happen if I create space for someone else?  What if they abuse it?  What if they don't know what they're doing?  What if I don't let my voice be heard?

Making a way for someone else will never be easy because no two people are the same.  But God promises that those who submit will inherit the earth.  It's funny that it is through the resignation of our own will, and not through the forceful propagation of it, that we inherit the earth.  Plans in counseling are built by two people who accept each other for who they are and take a risk by collaboratively making way.  The Kingdom Of God is the same.