- 9/20/10 - More from Colson on Emily, Max, and himself. Read the original post below, then come back and click through to this additional word from Colson. Both are well worth reading.
- Original post - I like Colson's reflections. They ring true. His daughter Emily has an autistic son, Max. Colson claims to have learned much from her and his grandson.
. . . To be honest, I can be judgmental towards other people. A child crying on a plane for example, when I wanted to work, made me wonder what is wrong with the parents. The patience and generosity that enables us to understand the plight of others doesn’t come naturally to me—or to just about anyone else, for that matter.
To the extent that I have learned it, I have learned it from watching Emily and Max. Watching Emily, and other parents of children with special needs, has taught me what it means to love in the biblical sense of the word agape.
In other words, what we think is love and altruism is really a selfish investment.
People like Emily put the lie to this idea--precisely because the objects of their love are, evolutionarily speaking, terrible investments. They can’t take care of you in your old age and they are unlikely to pass on your genes.
None of that matters—these children are loved in a manner that can best described as fierce. There is nothing that their parents wouldn’t do for them—no sacrifice too great to make. The idea that their own “needs” should somehow take precedence over their child’s is literally nonsensical to them.
And that’s what agape is. It’s giving yourself away for the sake of the other person.
This is of course what God did in Christ. Christ emptied himself for our sake. The hardest thing about being a Christian isn’t following rules—it’s the willingness to give ourselves way in imitation of the Savior.
Remember, there are four words in Greek used to describe love. Every one is self-serving except agape, which is totally self-giving. It knows that the things this world puts so much stock in such as possessions and status, aren’t ours—they are meant to be given away unconditionally.
As Paul wrote in Galatians 5, the only thing that counts if faith expressing itself through love. Through agape love.
As I write in the epilogue of Emily’s wonderful book, Dancing with Max, that’s what my daughter has taught me—for which I will be eternally grateful. It’s the kind of treasure I wouldn't trade for anything in life.
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Chuck Colson | BreakPoint | September 15, 2010