The Companionship of Good Books

The entrance of Michael’s brother-in-law, Paul, presents an entirely new perspective on Michael and Angel’s relationship.  Up to this point, we’ve pitied Angel for her past, adored Michael for his ability to see beyond it, and rooted for their success as a married couple despite their obvious differences and Angel’s resistance to it.  But Paul comes into the picture with a different attitude.  He loves his brother and cannot comprehend why he would marry such a woman.  Had he stood by his side, Paul could have been a great help to Michael in teaching Angel about love.  But his only thought is how he can separate them.

Angel does nothing to allay his concerns – she plays right into them because she still believes as much as Paul does that she could never deserve Michael’s love.  Still, no amount of antagonizing could justify Paul’s behavior toward Angel when he meets her on the road on the way to Paradice.

But if we take a step back from the anger we feel about Paul’s actions, we might realize that we often mimic them.  Have you ever felt like the burdens another carries are too heavy for him – that he might be mistaken in claiming it is what God asked him to do?  Jesus’s disciples did the same to Him – they refused to believe He had to die on the cross.  And so He died alone.

In our desire to protect those we love, I think it’s far easier to insist that they give up their crosses than to stand by their side as they carry them, especially when we feel so incapable of helping.  And it’s easier to hate others who injure those we love than to offer them forgiveness.  But each time we do, we throw another door in the face of someone who desperately needs to understand what love really is.

Paul doesn’t deserve Michael’s love any more or any less than Angel does.  Yet, after the way he’s acted, would we be prepared to give it to him?

I’m curious to know if anyone else is as bothered as I am by the way Michael ends of “marrying” Angel.  After all, she was in so much pain that she was prepared to say yes to anyone who would stop it.  It’s obvious soon after that she never had any intention of marrying him or of being his wife in the way he intended.  And yet he treats her as such, completely against her will.  Clearly she is grateful for his help, even if she won’t admit it.  But does that make it right that he “kidnapped” her and insists she is his wife?  It makes me wonder if God ever acts that way toward us.

Let’s focus on Chapters Seven through Fourteen for the next two weeks.

…but only say the Word, and I shall be healed!

I think one of the most tragic things about Angel is her inability to comprehend what Michael is offering her when he comes to visit her in the brothel.  She has been taught that her value is in her capacity to please others with her physical self.  She will be paid (or at least someone will be paid) for the physical pleasure she gives to others.  She thinks she has nothing else to offer the world.  No wonder she is unnerved when Michael doesn’t seem to want that from her.

But I think the worst of it is that she believes her value comes from what she has to offer, not from what someone else is offering her.  On her own, there is nothing she can do to earn Michael’s love.  She is only worthy of it because he is offering it to her.  And until she can begin to comprehend that love, she will never understand her true worth.

Martin Luther struggled in his youth to find a way to earn God’s love.  It was only after years of beating himself up (literally) that he finally came out of his struggle to understand a very important truth:  he was only worthy of God’s love because it was offered to him.  And as he grew in his faith of that love, he grew in his understanding of his own worth.

Aren’t we taught so often by society that we can make ourselves worthy and deserving by what we do rather than by who loves us?  We are paid for the hours we spend at work, we are praised for our success in achieving worldly goals, and we can so easily forget that we cannot make ourselves worthy.  I, for one, have been far more fortunate than Angel:  I have been loved by many – and with no strings attached.  In remembering that my worth comes from the love that is offered to me, I am continually inspired to share that love with others, so that they may see their true worth as well.

When I first “met” Michael, I was struck by how quick he was to trust that the voice he was hearing was God.   After all, would you be prepared to trust that it was God telling you that you should marry a prostitute?  At this point in the story, we already know of Angel’s childhood, so we can sympathize with her.  But Michael knows nothing of her past.  He doesn’t know the tragedy that led her to become a prostitute.  It must seem outrageous that God would intend her to be his wife.

“This one, beloved,” is all he hears.  And yet, while Michael questions if that’s really what God means, he doesn’t hesitate to trust that it is God speaking to him.

I think it is possible to reach a point in your relationship with God where you come to know the sound of His voice.  Where you no longer doubt that it is Him speaking because you are so familiar with Him.  It would be like doubting the sound of your mother’s voice.  Even if you hadn’t heard it for years, I suspect you’d remember the sound of your mother’s voice.   How wonderful to be so familiar with God that you’d recognize His voice even when it’s telling you something that you couldn’t imagine to be true.

For the first two weeks we’re going to focus on the Prologue and the first six chapters.  (But I couldn’t blame anyone for reading ahead.  It’s a hard book to put down!)

We’re planning to kick off this book club with Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers.  It’s a novel based on the book of Hosea but set in mid 19th-century America.  If you’d like to learn more about the author, a link to her website is posted on this page.

You can find the book at most Borders and Barnes & Noble bookstores and on Amazon.com for $13.59 new or a little cheaper if you want to buy used.  We also have a few copies that we can lend out.

We’ll “assign” a few chapters every two weeks, and  Nicole or I will post at least twice a week on those chapters.  But feel free to post anytime to keep the discussion going.  (You don’t have to set up an account to post on the blog.)

We plan to start on June 1 and will post the first “assignment” shortly before then.  If you have any questions or are having trouble getting a copy of the book, please let us know.