"But he loved."

I just finished reading Ruthless Trust by Brennan Manning. It's the sequel to The Ragamuffin Gospel, which I am currently reading.

I know, you shouldn't read the sequel first. My bad.

The book challenged me a lot of ways, gave me a lot to think about. It will probably color my thoughts in this blog for awhile, but for now, I just want to share one particular image I can't get out of my head.

At one point in the book, Manning shared an excerpt from a writer named Robert Johnson. In this excerpt, Johnson is writing about a vision he had in which his soul was on trial. Read this slowly, and let yourself really envision this scene:

"A prosecutor presented all the sins of commission and omission that I was responsible for throughout my life, and the list was very long indeed. That went on for hours, and it fell on me like a landslide. I was feeling worse and worse to the point where the soles of my feet were hot. After hours of accusations from the prosecution, a group of angels appeared to conduct my defense. All they could say was, "But he loved." They began chanting this over and over in a chorus: 'But he loved. But he loved. But he loved.' This continued until dawn, and in the end, the angels won, and I was safe."

I need to learn to love better than I do now.

Because love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8).  And love is the fulfillment of the law (Romans 13:10).

Because at the end of my life, I want the angels to be able to say, "But she loved."