Maybe you’ve heard that said. I knew someone years ago who would say it. Of course, it means that something is so far out of the normal course of events that it is all but unthinkable. Outrageous. Bizarre. Unexpected. Maybe someone you once thought would always be single has just announced an engagement. Perhaps a friend scratched off a lottery ticket with sizeable winnings. And maybe someone you know to be a dyed-in-the-wool, ten-cup-a-day coffee drinker quits caffeine and takes up consuming kale-turmeric smoothies. Indeed, who would have thunk that?
It's true that sometimes people will intentionally say or do things to shock others. Much of the time we understand such behavior as attention-seeking. For some, it could be a distancing mechanism in order to separate oneself from people or positions one is opposed to. Unthinkable actions might arise from a deep-seated emotional trauma or an antisocial personality disorder. In rare instances, though, the outrageous, unexpected, shocking, unthinkable behavior is produced by a four-letter word.
Love. Why else would a person don work boots and gloves after a hurricane, take up a shovel in an unfamiliar community, and muck out houses owned by strangers? What else could possibly prompt a person to part with hard-earned dollars in order to support a local food pantry? Why else would a parent forgo a new pair of shoes in order to provide a new winter coat for a child? Just a few examples of what we might consider sacrifice. The crazy kind of stuff people like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mother Teresa were well-known for doing. Risky. Generous. Who would have thunk any of that?
In one of their collaborative publications, Kate Bowler and Jessica Richie write about that powerful four-letter word in the book titled The Lives We Actually Have. In a piece written for this time of year, this season of Advent leading up to Christmas, they reflect with these words, “God, we are waiting for love, not the simple kind or the sweep-you-off-your-feet kind, but the absurd kind. The kind wrapped in rags, resting in a bucket of animal feed. Love enough to save us all. Blessed are we who look for Love deeper, fuller, truer – than we have ever known, than we could have ever hoped for. Blessed are we who seek you, the light that dawned so long ago in that dark stable. Love given. Love received. Receive this gift, dear one. Love has come for you.” Indeed, who would have thunk it?