After last night’s Maundy Thursday service (an intense experience) I’m thinking about the word “devotion” and how easy it is to loosely sling it around in conversation like some sort of college student backpack – obvious and necessary, and yet no one is sure what (and how much) goes inside.
What does it mean, really-and-truly, to be devoted to God? (selah) Devoted to others? (selah) And what are “daily devotions” anyway, other than some rote ritual that makes sure the bases are covered? How does devotion compare to sacrifice? Commitment? Zeal? Worship? How does devotion between two people take shape based on individual personalities/temperaments – and even end up being misinterpreted as a threat?
Sadly, so often devotion’s antonym (apathy, neglect, negligence) upholds the American idol: independence. Devotion doesn’t stand a chance in the midst of autonomy.
Devotion requires walls to come down – especially inner skyscraper-walls surrounding and constricting human hearts. It dispels both pretense and embarrassment and is a matter of giving all and receiving all, but in the context of unconditional love.
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