by Thabo Mkhonta
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WE ARE LENT THIS LIFE TO INVEST IN LOVE
Every human being is for a purpose of love, heedless of which status s/he is according to earthly judgements. The parable Jesus uses in the Gospel, talks about investing (in an open market of love), something which is very risky. You have to spend yourself in life. Take the risk, not just treading with precautions all the time – being afraid to invest on others who are gifts from God!
‘Who can find a good wife? The husband whose heart trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain’ (Proverbs 31:10,11). This is a call to invest in love; as this is what God is all about and has been. God the Father investing in loving us to the cost of the life of His only Son Jesus (cf. John 3:16)! Alluded by the 1st Reading the greatest fruit of love, is the gift of a virtues woman. To find her, calls for a real man who invest his heart on her for a life time. It is risky, only real men can do that. This is because if she is virtuous, the husband will be happy for the rest of his life; but if not, he will pay for the rest of his life. Love is a risky business of which we are all called to venture in.
With respect to women, the life of a mother can either make or break the terror of a household more so than men! If the wife is a virtuous woman, it boils down to the children because of their natural proximity to her. This is why the woman is pivotal and the centre of the family. Where ever the woman is, there is the home. And so, where ever there is a God fearing woman, there is the church. That is, by proxy of association, duties from God are discharged through the mother. So, in marriage two things are important according to the 1st Reading, the trust of the heart of the husband (him being faithful to only his wife), and the virtuousness of the wife (her fearing the Lord). And these are the fruits of investing in love, a risk worth to take.
People often miss the gift of the other because of failure to invest in heart matters. They don’t want to take the risk of love. The problem is that in life we often judge others according to our hearts’ disposition, of which they are revealed when we encounter certain people. Have you ever hate someone for no reason at all? While hating that person, remember, there is nothing wrong with them but a lot with you. S/he is a constant reminder to you that you are not investing your heart but have just buried it in that self-confinement of your narcissist sentiments. As a swaggerer, you are stuck in egoistic grounds you have buried yourself in like the servant who buried his talent then boasted that he was doing favour for the Master.
Eliminating others in the name of the Lord is a mortal sin, we are not doing any favours to God – He only called us to invest in loving others, not to judge others. We are all servants of the Master who gave us talents, which is our hearts to invest them in love. Some are given plenty (huge hearts),
some less – but the point is that each individual is given to invest in love. People fail to invest in the free market of love, they choose to shut others off. Thus, quick to judge and compartmentalize. So, don’t be foolish; life is not about you! It doesn’t matter how religious you may think you are, you bury your heart and not invest on loving others – then you miss the opportunity to please the Master. God is love, nobody can say s/he loves God whom s/he never saw whilst s/he hates a brother or sister, s/he sees and knows (cf. 1 John 4:20). Failure to invest in loving others, is failure to be a worthy servant. The gift of others would be taken away from you, and you will be left with the hollowness of your ego as a posturer.
Our lives here are supposed to bear fruits of eternal life, of which we are going to depart this world with – what we carry within our hearts (Love). But some hearts are just buried in the black-hole of the ego. Again we are reminded, this life is just temporal, it will pass away. So, how do you invest for the next?