Creepy Love Isn't Love at All

Psalm 36:5-9 (NRSV)

Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
your judgments are like the great deep;
you save humans and animals alike, O LORD.

How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.

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Into this night I wander
It's morning that I dread
Another day of knowing of
The path I fear to tread
Oh into the sea of waking dreams
I follow without pride
Cause nothing stands between us here
And I won't be denied

And I would be the one
To hold you down
Kiss you so hard
I'll take your breath away
And after, I'd wipe away the tears
Just close your eyes...

"Possession" by Sarah McLachlan, from Fumbling Towards Ecstacy

There's something about creepy love songs. First, they aren't love songs at all. They are stalker anthems. They are about obsession and possession and abuse. This is not a light use of the word abuse. Second, they are seductive. In the same veinThe Police had a tremendous hit with "Every Breath You Take." It's such a big hit that people still say "it's our song" without realizing how creepy it is.

Sarah's "Possession" is a great song. The lyric, the vibe, the tune, especially the performance makes this a great song. But like the ocean, wonderful, glorious, and dangerous as a storm or rip tide; there is an undercurrent to this song that is just plain creepy.

Nobody knows that better than Sarah who in another performance said this song was her attempt to get into the head of the 1% of fan letters that comes off this way. Yes, she says almost all fanmail is wonderful and encouraging, but there is a tiny sliver that is not right.

In fact, a fan stalked Sarah, writing these words in letters to her. While awaiting trial, the man sued her for using his words in her song. Creepy and creepier.

Our God is all knowing, all creating, all powerful. In the hands of someone with evil intent, these are not good qualities. It is with thanks to the Lord that we come to know God as a wonderful and caring Lord; the Lord of our refuge and strength; the Lord of plenty by whom our hunger is satisfied and our thirst quenched. In the Lord, we live in the light of God's love.

It is said that when a door is opened, the light spills into the closet, the darkness does not spill into the room. We live in your light, we live in the warm glow of your love.

Love that is not obsessive. Love that is self-giving, even unto the point of the Son's death on the cross.