Love With Urgency
There is a lyric from a Mumford & Sons song which always hits me when I hear it…
“I will love with urgency but not with haste.”
(From “Not With Haste” on the Babel album by Mumford & Sons)
When I hear the lyric, I’m reminded of my own need to love more urgently, and I’m also intrigued by the thought of that permeating our culture. Can you imagine if we all learned to love with urgency? What would be different?
In today’s world, we are dealing with all kinds of conflict and strife.
I think of the situation in Ferguson, Missouri. How differently would it look if everyone involved responded with urgent love? How would the police respond differently? How would protestors respond differently? How would the news media respond differently? How would the citizens outside of Ferguson respond differently? With a different response – a response marked by urgent love – I have to imagine the situation would be much different.
I think of the situation in West Africa where thousand are sick and dying of Ebola. How differently would it look if everyone involved responded with urgent love? How would medical practitioners respond differently? How would pharmaceutical companies respond differently? How would those outside of West Africa respond differently? With a different response – a response marked by urgent love – I wonder if more lives would be saved.
I think of the situation in Israel and Gaza. How differently would it look if everyone involved responded with urgent love? I know this is hard to imagine as there has been fighting in this area since the beginning of time. How would Israel respond differently? How would Palestine respond differently? How would the United States government respond differently? How would families who have lost loved ones respond differently? With a different response – a response marked by urgent love – I think peace might actually be possible.
I think of the situation in Ukraine. How differently would it look if everyone involved responded with urgent love? How would Ukrainians respond differently? How would rebels respond differently? How would Russia respond differently? How would NATO respond differently? With a different response – a response marked by urgent love – I see productive conversation and peaceful resolutions.
I think of the situation in Syria and Northern Iraq. I have to believe that loving with urgency could possibly bring about miraculous results. The ISIS crusade and situation seems quite bleak to me, but maybe it takes someone loving with urgency to break through the barriers which are currently ending countless lives in this region. How would the United States respond differently? How would the people the Iraqi government respond differently? How would the ISIS respond differently? I know these are crazy questions. With a different response – a response marked by urgent love – is it possible for harmony in this region?
As the song implies, loving with urgency doesn’t mean acting out of haste. It is appropriate to be well thought out when responding to challenging situations. However, I think we too often fail to respond because we either don’t care or we are too concerned that our response will be questioned or unproductive. It’s time we all start looking around and learning to love with urgency. If we all started living in this way, the world would be a different – better – place.