Brandi is a student in upstate New York. She introduced herself by saying, “I am a little bit of a new health nut, and love exercise, hiking and biking… I also have a serious love for candy, totally in contradiction to my healthy side.”
Then she adds this pearl: “But hey, everyone has to have something they irrationally love.”
I love it! And I think she’s on to something. When everything in your life is reduced to what you can fit inside a logical, predictable box, it’s time to check some vital signs.
Charge to 20… Clear!
Sure, integrity and authenticity have their places – hugely important places. But if there isn’t something that drives you on, keeps you up at night, fills your conversations, or fires your passion to the point that people think you’re just a little stubborn, obsessed or crazy, you need CPR (That’s Cardio-Passion Resuscitation).
A Word from Our Sponsor
Let’s acknowledge that if you are a follower of Christ, He lays claim to make you His Fanatic-in-Chief. After all, He’s earned it, and your caramel macchiato from Starbucks isn’t even in the same stratosphere with that.
Let’s also acknowledge that He lays claim to every priority, desire and passion, and at some point will even ask for you to surrender your points of loony love – even your favorite sports team. (My favorite line from a hymn: “Look, there is flowing a Crimson Tide.” Sorry… where was I?)
That said, often what looks illogical and inconsistent to the rest of the world may well be some of His doing to get you moving or keep you going. You can find evidence of insane love in the Bible, and in the lives of just about anybody who accomplished anything significant.
You can also find crazy love in places where certifiably disturbed people are. So remember, keep some reality and truth checks nearby.
So how can you discern the possibilities and potential of your own crazy love? By looking for the places where you’re just a little bit W.A.R.P.E.D.
Watchfulness
Irrational love shows up in the stuff you just can’t take your eyes off of, or just can’t quit thinking about. Like Eric, a guy I once knew who was always walking around with his guitar strapped on – just in case there was a need. Or like Paul in the Bible, who was constantly on the lookout for an opportunity to carry the gospel to Rome.
When your magnificent obsession keeps you up at night with sleepless imagination, and you’re scared you’ll miss something if you fall asleep – that’s crazy love.
When you can regain your sense that the earth is still turning and there’s a light in the darkness whenever you’re connected to someone or something, that’s a sure sign of wacky wonder.
When your unhinged creativity has you constantly watching for just the right words or form or phrase or rhyme to show your love or devotion, you’ve totally gone off the deep end.
Appreciation
Sometimes irrational love is the result of gratitude. There are times when your life has been so impacted, so blessed, so transformed, you can’t help but want to give back. Like the man I knew years ago who was so grateful that I had impacted his daughters through our youth ministry, he couldn’t seem to do enough to show his appreciation. Or like Mary Magdalene, who was so radically changed from her dark past, she followed Jesus even into a graveyard.
When someone or something has so touched your life that you save the best of yourself in return out of sheer force of gratitude, that may be a sign of crazy love.
When you recognize how someone has made you a better man or woman and you live with a ridiculous sense of devotion and loyalty because of it, you may well have just purchased your one-way ticket to la-la land.
Risk
Irrational love can lead you to do some ridiculous things. That’s why it’s called irrational. Like the time Peter left a perfectly unsafe boat in the middle of a fierce storm to try to walk on an even less safe stormy sea. Or the time someone you know left that comfortable job with benefits and risked their security for a business or career they loved. The world may have been screaming, “Play it safe.” They just decided not to pay attention.
When you offer yourself or some expression of lavish extravagance, like Mary did when she broke the alabaster box and poured ex-pen-sive pure nard on Jesus’ feet, that’s crazy love.
When you are willing to risk failure or rejection to lay your heart on the line, knowing your heart could be crushed, but putting it out there anyway, that’s loco love.
When you say no to your fears and recognize you only have one life – and when you dare to seize the opportunity to make a complete fool or a total hero of yourself because it’s worth the risk, you have officially left the land of the predictably sane.
Perseverance
Irrational love sometimes shows up in what you refuse to do – namely give up. Anybody can have a short-term fad kind of rave. But sometimes what makes crazy love crazy isn’t the passion – it’s the endurance. Sort of like that nut job in the Bible, Jacob, who worked seven years to marry Rachael, then worked seven more when he was duped. Or like Thomas Edison, who pressed on through many disappointments before he lit the way with incandescent light.
When you keep hanging on to an idea or a relationship during those seasons where it seems as though you’re at the mercy of the storms or darkness, that’s crazy love.
When you’re willing to enter into somebody else’s storms to offer warm-hearted encouragement or protection, that’s a pretty good sign you’ve got a screw loose somewhere.
When you’re facing the fiercest of tests and it feels like your whole life is sinking in the ocean, and you keep hanging on – not just with your will but with your heart – that’s a pretty strong case that you’ve taken a plunge in to the sea of the senseless.
Expectancy
Sometimes your irrational love makes you sound a bit like Pollyanna. You just know if you play the glad game long enough, something good will happen. Or if you click those heels together three times and say, “There’s no place like home,” Dorothy, next stop is Kansas. But this isn’t fairy-tale stuff to you. You believe with expectancy. Like that kid David, who killed a giant and became a rock star (sorry), mainly because he completely expected to win.
When you confidently cling to hope of a promised future and live as though it will be soon, if not today, that’s crazy love.
When all other dreams and their fulfillment fade before the one dream that matters – and you would stay true to that dream if the world stopped turning – that’s some pretty demented devotion.
When the clock ticks away the hours and the calendar rips through the days and still they find you waiting for a dream to come true, way past when everyone else has gone home or moved on, you’re obviously suffering from clue deficit disorder.
Delight
This is by far the biggest type. It’s where you find Brandi’s candies (coming soon to a store near you), my son’s love for baseball and his man-crush on John Mayer, my daughter’s strange affinity for new school supplies, and my other daughter’s delight in all things Disney. In the Bible you see it in Isaac’s love for wild game, David’s love for song and dance, and Samson’s love for… well, skip that one.
When something or someone fills your heart with such utter gladness or joy that it can reset your mood or make your load a little lighter, that’s crazy love.
When the perceived beauty of that person or thing blinds you to its faults or risks or puts a song in your heart (yes, I wrote an ode to TaB), that’s a surefire indicator of the irrational.
So where’d we get this capacity to be completely senseless with the things, ideas, and people we love and yet talk about it or act on it with complete credibility?
Where did we learn to keep our eyes open and watch every detail?
Where did we learn to express gratitude or commitment for the long haul?
Where did we learn to risk rejection, knowing the object of our love was worth the risk?
Where did we learn to set our faces like a flint and endure for the sake of the beloved?
Where did we learn to hope against all hope?
Where did we learn to delight ourselves in the goodness we can taste and see?
Surely… surely… you know the answer to that.
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Okay, so I’m reading (and laughing my head off) and I think – that’s how I was/am/will be about my writing! It is a calling, a ministry, a must-have, must-do. If a day goes by when I don’t write, I feel as though a part of me is missing . . .
And, I’m really head-over-heels crazy gone on the Lord! 🙂
Wonderful post, Andy! Though I know you’re on Facebook now (Hooray!), I still put your blog on my feed – it’s always that good!
Blessings!
Martha Orlando´s last blog post ..How Many Hats Do You Wear?
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