One love that looks like two

For more commentary on this week's readings, see the Reflections on the Lectionary page, which includes Cherwien's current Living by the Word column as well as past magazine and blog content. For full-text access to all articles, subscribe to the Century.

Did you ever make a Möbius strip in grade school or high school? You may have seen one in the woodcuts of M.C. Escher. They are made by taking a strip of paper, say, eight inches long and an inch wide. You hold the two ends, give one a half-twist, then tape the two ends together to form a loop.

You look at the resulting shape and your mind says, "This shape has two sides and two edges." But if you take a pen and start to draw a line on only one side of the strip, you eventually, without lifting the pen, meet the starting point of your line. It is one continuous side, not two.