Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” Luke 9:58
“True understanding is unattainable without both love and detachment, and we can only learn to view anything with detachment by comparing it with other things which are both like and unlike it. We cannot understand the present without a knowledge of the past, our native land without having spent some time in a foreign country, our mother-tongue without a working knowledge of at least two other languages. Without such knowledge, our love of ourselves at the present moment, of our country, of our language, remains an ignorant idolatry.”
W. H. Auden in the Foreword to History in English Words by Owen Barfield (Barrington: Lindisfarne, 1967) 8. After reading Chesterton and Lewis, I turned to Barfield, one of Jack’s mates and a keen British philosopher. This statement in the foreword to Barfield’s book caught my attention.
“True understanding is unattainable without both love and detachment.” Sit with that idea for a while.
What came into view for me was our Lord Jesus Christ, traveling light through life. Nothing encumbered him. Love drove him. He left heaven behind and came to earth. He was here on mission empowered by love and exhibiting detachment.
For the rest of us, this beckons us to get out of our comfort zone, travel to a foreign place (or country), lest we remain stuck in ignorant idolatry. The world wants to trap us into thinking we need things to sustain us. Travel does this for me. It reveals my idols.
Strip yourself of earthly security, comfort, pleasures, and possessions. Go to a foreign plance. Arm yourself with love. See what happens. This GTP trip has exceeded my hopes. Until Christ is all you have, you don’t realize He’s all you’ve ever needed all along.
The only way to gain true understanding about anything is love and detachment. It frees you from ignorant idolatry and positions you to live, give, and serve generously. Don’t take my word for it. See for yourself. You don’t figure it out until you live it out.