Love

Today's meditational word is love. We've heard it said hundreds of times, "what we can conceive (or visualize), we can achieve." So today, I'm taking the time to meditate on what love really looks like. hmmmm. Love. Unconditional love. Love without strings? Is that possible?

The famous Love Chapter in an ancient letter to the church at Corinth says that love is patient. Love is kind. It doesn't envy or boast. It's not proud or rude. It's not self-seeking. It is not easily angered and, on top of that, it doesn't even keep a list of wrongs or offenses. (Uh-oh, time to chuck the list of offenses...and time to stop trying to justify myself.) Love does not delight when something bad happens but rejoices with the truth. (oh...I see, it doesn't secretly rejoice when something bad happens to the person who offended me. Real love won't say, "Well, she deserves it after what she did." Or "It serves him right!") Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (I Corinthians 13 paraphrased)

Why is love so important? The beginning of the chapter says that pretty much everything else is worthless compared to love. If I could speak all kinds of languages (even the language of angels), but don't have love, I'm just another noisey, annoying instrument. What if I had the gift of prophesy? What if I could understand all mysteries and all knowledge, even the Natural Laws of the Universe, but don't have love? What if I could move mountains and change the universe with my faith and my thoughts? Without love, I am nothing. What if I gave everything I owned to help the poor or I gave my body to science or I just lived sacrificially for others; giving, giving, giving...If I don't have love, I gain nothing.

Because love never fails. Prophecies (powerful words) will stop some day. Tongues (languages) will stop. Even knowledge will pass away, because we only see such a tiny pin-hole of light and truth. We think we know stuff, but we only know part of the picture. It's like trying to look in a mirror in a dimly lit room. We think we see and understand stuff, but our vision is limited. We sometimes mistake the reflection for the real thing. But someday, when perfection appears, imperfection will disappear and we'll see the real thing face to face. We'll no longer mistake shadows or reflections for the real thing.

We know that the sun and the moon are two different entities. The moon reflects the sunlight. And yet, if we never saw the sun, we might think that the moon is THE source of light, not understanding that it is only a reflection of a much more powerful source. Ah...now I'm beginning to understand...This world and everything in it is only a shadow of the things to come. And maybe my version of love has been very limited, a love in the shadowlands. But when I see love; real, genuine, amazing, powerful, creative, life-transforming LOVE, then I'll begin to be more like love, because I'll get it! I can't help but be transformed when I understand love as it really is!

What was that Jesus said about love? Oh yeah, love God with everything that makes you who you are (mentally, spiritually, emotionally, physically) and love others as yourself. But I haven't loved myself much...For years, I berated myself, told myself I wasn't worthy of love because I wasn't a super-model or a MENSA consultant or wealthy and influential. I wasn't what the world system tells me I should be.

So how could I love others if I didn't think much of myself? hmmm. Maybe I was being self-centered. Maybe if I took my eyes off of my own imperfections long enough, I might look into the eyes of another and see what they need. Maybe I could reach out to others, instead of hoping they would reach out to me. Maybe if I stepped out of my comfort zone, I could make a difference in someone else's life. How can I love someone else today in a practical way that helps the other person?

When it all comes down in the end, only faith, hope and love remain. But the most powerful of these three is love. Love empowers people, liberates people, sets them free from judgment or expectations, sets them free to be everything they can be. I choose love today! Today's mantra: As I love, love is coming to me.