God vs. Meatloaf

Photo credit Brett Davies via Compfight (cc)

Have you ever heard the song “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad” by Meatloaf? (I’m not really that old, just a student of history).  The chorus goes, “I want you, I need you, But there ain’t no way I’m ever gonna  love you...”

I thought of this song while watching a video of Fr. Robert Barron explaining various proofs of God’s existence. God is sort of the opposite of Meatloaf. He wants us, he loves us, but he doesn’t need us.

God does not need us, yet we exist. Why? Because God is love.

God wants us. He wants you. He wants to see you become the amazing, talented, spirited man or woman he created you to be. He wants you to have babies, build houses, fix cars, care for the sick, run your business. He wants you laugh. Yes, he wants you to cry. He wants you to be a saint. He wants you to love.

God loves and wants us so much he not only created us, he became one of us and died for us. As speaker and author Mark Hart put’s it, “God would rather die than spend eternity without you.”

Loved, but not needed has other perks. I think we have a tendency as followers of Jesus to worry about whether or not we are doing our part. In a way this is good. We have a role to play in the Church and the world, we need to play it. At the same time, knowing that I am not needed for God to accomplish his saving plan takes a lot of pressure off. I want to play my part because I want to participate in the same love that willed us into existence.

This is what God wants for us--to participate in His love.

How are you a participant in God’s love?