Love In Action

Adam Outreach Project is a Lowestoft-based Christian charity that offers support and housing for those affected by addiction, mental health challenges and homelessness. On Saturday they reported:

‘Today we received a phone call about a young man—he’s only 24 years old. He had been living in a tent near some woods. When someone found him, his legs were purple from the cold. He was freezing.

He’s had a mental breakdown, gone through a painful breakup over Christmas, lost his job, and spiralled into drugs and alcohol…’

They describe how they’ve found him temporary accommodation so that this week ‘…he can move into something safe, stable, and dignified. This is love in action.’

Yesterday I was chatting to my friend Jack. He gave me a Shakespeare lesson…

…Romeo is waiting with Friar Lawrence. Juliet will soon arrive for their secret wedding. Romeo declares his intense love for Juliet. Friar Lawrence warns Romeo that such love can explode like gunpowder:  

These violent delights have violent ends
And in their triumph die, like fire and powder…
Therefore love moderately; long love doth so;
Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow.

A steady, consistent love – that isn’t to quick or too slow – is a lasting love. Sadly Romeo doesn’t heed the Friar’s warning.

..In ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ Benedick visits Beatrice and is trying to be noble and serious. Beatrice keeps teasing him. Their banter turns flirtatious, and Benedick awkwardly tries to express his love for her. Beatrice, staying guarded, says she feels sick. Benedick summarises his feelings:

Serve God, love me and mend. There will I leave you.’

Benedick’s priorities are serving God, loving, and healing…

The Adam Outreach story continues: ‘Love in action. Loving your neighbour when it costs something, when it’s inconvenient, and when it’s messy. This is what it’s all about—meeting people at their lowest and saying, you’re not on your own anymore.’

This is Friar Lawrence’s steady, consistent love, and Benedick’s balance of serving God, loving and healing.