Bind Us Together, Lord

In my most recent BLOG I focused on the pain and sorrow of being bound together by one’s feet, one’s house or one’s conscience. Even as I was writing that another refrain kept running through my mind. It was deep request, not for relief from being bound, but for being bound. 

 

    Bind us together, Lord,

    Bind us together with cords that cannot be broken.

     Bind us together, Lord.

     Bind us together in love.

In contrast to imposed restrictive ties created by humans this hymn is a plea for the Lord to bind us in love. The hymn specifically prays for this union with God-and then also with one another. That which  binds is divine love made most evident in the life and sacrifice of Jesus and then also love between humans.

The first of such human bindings that comes to my mind is “mother’s love.” I never cease to marvel at that incredible characteristic. This struck me very hard recently when I witnessed a mother who could not feel and did not demonstrate any special feeling for her own young child. I watched that interaction with deep sadness. I am so grateful that this is a rare psychological ailment. Much more common is seeing  how a mother pushes one baby in a stroller, tries too keep an eye on another and  is speaking to a to a third. I recall how my wife and my mother spent countless hours just showing unbridled love for their offspring. Of course one also sees this in fathers and yet I believe the binding between child and mother is a unique and wonderful gift from God, a unique binding together in love.

Another cherished binding experienced by many is the powerful binding together in love between married spouses. (I am not sure if it is the same with two “partners” who have chosen to live together-but have not married. I think married love is unique.) I just think of Jane’s love for me. It is still there and maybe even growing as we approach our 70tht wedding anniversary . This love, too, is unique and for those who have it, it is a gift to be thankful for and to be celebrated 24 hours a day.

So, being bound by forces outside of one’s self can be  one of the greatest burdens of life and being bound in love freely chosen  and then returned is indeed “the greatest of all”.