Love Routine for the Pom Pom stick!
 by Dave Glover

Begin with strings the same length! I appreciate that your colours might well be different to mine! It does not matter as they are of no real significance.

I have here a very unusual Gizmo! It’s my ‘Pom Pom’ stick! It is an unusual item made up of several different yet interconnecting parts. As you can see on this side the Yellow ‘Pom Pom’ is connected to the Green ‘Pom Pom’ and the green ‘Pom Pom’ is connected to the Yellow ‘Pom Pom’. On the other side the Red ‘Pom Pom’ is connected to the Black ‘Pom Pom’ and the Black ‘Pom Pom’ is connected to the Red ‘Pom Pom’.
 
Nothing unusual there you say!

Strangely however the Green ‘Pom Pom’ is also connected to the Black ‘Pom Pom’ whilst at the same time being connected to the Yellow ‘Pom Pom’. Weirder still the Yellow ‘Pom Pom’ is also connected to the Black ‘Pom Pom’ which interestingly all the time retains its link to the Red ‘Pom Pom’. The Red ‘Pom Pom’ even more strangely remains connected to the Black ‘Pom Pom’ whilst also connected to the Green ‘Pom Pom’ and the Yellow ‘Pom Pom’.
 
Altogether then an unusual mix of interrelated connections! All of which makes it ideal for me to try to explain the word Love!

We have a tendency in English to use the one word love to speak of a whole range of emotions and relationships. I love chocolate and I love my wife. I love football and I love dogs. I love reading but I also love jogging! The question is, “Do I love chocolate in the same way I love my wife or the dog for that matter”? Obviously there is a difference, well at least my wife hopes so!

Pom Poms now back where we started with even strings
 
In Greek, the language of the New Testament, there are many words used to express the word love! Let me highlight what for me are 4 of the most important.
 
Taking the Yellow PomPom: 
The first word is ‘Phileo’ which is friendship love! The sort of love we have for a good friend!

Taking the Green PomPom:

The second is ‘Storge’ which is filial love. The kind of love you would have for your Mum or Dad, brother or sister!

Taking the Black PomPom: 
The third is ‘Eros’ which is sensual love. We get our word erotic from here. It is the kind of love most featured in the media or on film. It can at best be something amazingly beautiful and at worst incredibly selfish and damaging. It can get you into trouble. Talk to Jon Terry, Tiger Woods, or any number of famous actors, sports people or politicians!

Taking the Red PomPom:
The fourth is ‘Agape’! Agape is sacrificial love. Agape love costs. Agape love is more about what you want than what I want! We see Agape love modelled in Jesus the one who came to serve and not to be served. The one who surrendered His own life in order that we might have life!
 
Four words then! Phileo, Storge, Eros, Agape. Four words that all mean love but completely different aspects of that one word.

But what happens if we link Agape to Phileo? Taking the Red Pom Pom and linking it to the Yellow Pom Pom: We get a friend that sticks closer than a brother. A friend that works for your success even at the expense of their own! A friend that will not just be there for you but one that would even lay down their lives for you!

Then if we link Agape to Storge! Taking the Red Pom Pom and linking it to the Green Pom Pom: We then have family relationships that work on an amazingly deep level. Relationships that will weather the storms that life throws at us! Relationships that exist for one another!

Is it possible that we can link Agape with Eros? Taking the Red Pom Pom and linking it to the Black Pom Pom: Song of Solomon in the Bible legitimises erotic love in the context of committed loving relationships. Christian Marriage, where each partner’s highest goal is to love and to cherish the one God has given them, is the right place for sexual relationships. Agape love provides the safe zone in which sexual love might be played out to each other’s fullest pleasure!
 
Four words all incredibly interconnected! One last time showing the interlinking of all Pom Poms till they hang equal length strings with the Pom Poms suspended together over the bar:

Too good to be true you say! Where do we find Agape love? The Bible says that God is Love. Agape is the word the Bible uses to describe Christ’s love for us. It is in relationship with God that we receive His love into our heart and lives. What is more wonderful is that all of this comes, as Agape love always comes, Gripping the strings either side of the bar pull apart! With no strings attached!
 
Routine is concluded with the bar apart as to rejoin it diminishes the impact of Agape Love!