Love - Life Adhesion Molecules

Painting by: Melody Hogan, 2009












In the Beginning....God....made everything. You know the story. Genesis, the creation, Adam and Eve. God set in motion the greatest multiplication problem ever. All things were created to be fruitful and multiply. Life began and was commanded to flourish and multiply. If you've seen Lou Giglio's talk on Laminin, you might remember that at the center of a cell in the human body is a protein molecule called Laminin, which is a cell adhesion molecule, it holds the cell together and tells the cell what it's supposed to do. It's fascinating to see the scientific diagram of Laminin, it's actually in the shape of a cross! Amazing to think that the God of the universe created this cell adhesion molecule in the shape of an object that would become so significant many years on the other side of creation. It was no accident that the most important cell in the human body, the one that holds all things together, is in the shape of a cross which so passionately represents Jesus who died on it. As Lou says in his message*, quoting from Colossians 1:17 "it's in Jesus that all things hold together."  

So, if it's true that Jesus came to Earth to show us who God is...and if God is love...then Jesus came to earth to show us love. What love is, how to give it, and with whom we should share it. He basically boiled it down to two bullet points:  1) love God and 2) love others. Simple right? The idea is not to have love and keep it, not to feel loved and hold on to it so tightly that it becomes unrecognizable. That would be completely selfish. Instead, love was meant to be received, nurtured, cultivated, protected, divided and shared. If the cell adhesion molecule is in the form of a cross, and it is a part of cells in the human body, and if what Jesus did on the cross was the ultimate act of love, then perhaps we can conclude that love resides in every cell in our human body. The cells in our body are constantly reproducing and multiplying, that's what they do. At the core of our being, within our cells, lives the essence of who God is....love. And just like Laminin, love is what holds all things together. Just as the cells in our body reproduce and multiply, in the same proportion love within us can reproduce and multiply. It's what it was meant to do.

The only thing standing in the way of love multiplying...is us. Our ego, our pride, our ignorance, and even our unforgiveness. At times, we feel we can't love because of the brokenness inflicted upon us by others, the hurt that is heaped upon us for no obvious reason, or perhaps the pain that we still carry around from our not-so-perfect childhood.  We get to the point where feeling love requires a movement of both heaven and earth before it can be recognized, even looking for it can cause pain because it's no where to be found or we have become completely and utterly numb to it. Being in that place is hard, it's lonely, it's dark...and if it were up to us, we might easily decide that it's just not worth the pursuit any longer. If the cells in our body could not multiply, they would die, life would cease to exist. If we avoid allowing love to multiply within us, we die a little each day, to ourselves, to others, and ultimately, to love. But that's not how God created love to work.

As in the painting above, out of a broken heart can grow this unimaginable ability to share love in so many way, with so many people around us, as if there is an unending supply. In 1John 4:10, we are told that "This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." We can't see the Laminin in our cells, but we know it's there because our bodies hold together. We can't see God, but we can know He is there because there is love in us, in our cells, in our hearts, at the core of who we are.  It's how He created it. We miss out on so much life because we don't allow love to grow, flourish and multiply. We miss the tender moments that later we wished we could do over. We miss the joy of certain times and places, looking back in anger that we allowed it to be stolen. We miss the closeness of those we so desperately want to hold, who instead push us away or avoid us because of the pain we've caused.

Rather than steep in the brokenness of our heart...live in the life that is emerging and in the love that is waiting to be birthed. Little tiny hearts, full of love, are waiting to blossom, grow, and multiply into many overabundant hearts where love is spilling out uncontrollably. Many are waiting, unknowingly, for that love to appear. Many are waiting to be embraced by it and held together to each other with the warmth, comfort and peace that love produces. Many are hoping to be saved from dying a slow death, living without love. And God....He is waiting to replenish our heart as we empty it on others. And what might be "life adhesion** molecules"....that would be love.

* Giglio message:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0-NPPIeeRk&feature=related
**Adhesion: the tendency of certain dissimilar molecules to cling together due to attractive forces.

Melody Hogan, The Creative Concierge http://www.melodyhogan.com/