Soaked with love …

I don’t want to sound cliche, but the photo above is a grand demonstration of that old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words.

It’s a photo that, as I understand it, has recently gone viral. It features an unidentified father in New York City getting soaked by rain as he shields his young son from the precipitation with an umbrella.

As I look at that photo, I find myself rather stymied for words. I want to let the photo do the talking, and it’s saying a lot as it stirs my thinking, and as it touches my heart.

What an incredible portrait of a father’s love!

Like a slideshow of pictures, a flurry of scriptures flit through my mind recalling God’s wondrous love expressed to us as His children, those moments in scripture of God bursting forth to acknowledge His love for His Son, and the love shown through the Son of God for us on the cross.

There are even a few memories of people I’ve seen throughout my life who poured out such love for others. Like this man … like our God … like Jesus our Redeemer … they were people soaked with love.

Gazing at the photo, this little boy seems rather impervious to the storm, or the suffering of his father at the moment. But drawing attention to himself or the discomfort he’s experiencing is of no thought to this father, he’s entirely invested in the well-being of his boy.

That’s how love is.

This man is soaked with it, and this boy is blessed to have such a father.

Do you love that way?

Is there someone for whom you are — or could — hold the umbrella?

Scotty