before the great and awesome

A few weeks ago, I entered my kids' bedroom while they were trying to fall asleep. My son had this look on his face, like he was trying to calculate the world's most difficult math problem in his head without a calculator. Turns out my daughter was trying to explain this unique numbering system she thought should be used in place of the standard 12-hour am/pm model. After she tried getting me to comprehend it to no avail, my son says, "I told you it didn't make any sense."

That look on his face has stuck with me, especially as I've been listening to a great hymn on repeat on my iPod. The look on my son's face was one of attempted understanding of something completely beyond understanding. And it is an attitude that should characterize our attempt to grasp the full depth of the love of God. Because the more you ponder it, the more you should stand agape in wonder.

The hymn expresses the notion that our song should ever be how marvelous and amazing the love of God is. And those two adjectives convey this idea that God's love for us should astound us in the same way seeing a talking circus elephant flying a jumbo jet should -- viewing something beyond impossible. We should be marveling at God's love for us in the same way that we would marvel at seeing the Old Testament inscribed on a pinhead -- viewing something completely wondrous. Because thinking about God's love and not coming away completely blown away means you're not thinking hard enough.