True Love
True Love
Clearly there is something quite remarkable happening in our lives. As rational beings, we feel the need to ascribe all phenomena to one of three things; politics, the economy or the weather…usually in that order. Except for global warming of course, which then requires things to move in exact reverse…especially logic, reason & common sense. Whereas love requires absolutely nothing! Love is inherently non-discriminatory…it is available to everyone! But True Love is only available to those who possess the courage to stand in its light! This is what I’ve learned on my incredible Holy Week Journey 2014!
You see ordinary love can be found in observing the mother grizzly placing herself in harm’s way in order to protect her cubs. For True Love, we must visit the Garden of Gethsemane, “Jesus is literally laying on the ground, curled up in a ball, writhing in agony. Our Lord is a quivering, trembling, sobbing mess. Jesus is in such stress and agony that the capillaries in the sweat glands in His scalp and forehead are bursting, and there is blood in the sweat that is running down His face, mingling with His tears, and dropping on the ground.” ~ Ann Barnhardt
This is the distinction that history is blessing our hearts with…an amazing window of opportunity! I am not asking my Jewish friends to forsake the Star of David for the sign of the Cross. What I am saying is that our very survival and the well-being of our souls (the only thing we DO take with us) are depending on our vigilance here!
True Love is wearing the yellow Star of David on your coat sleeve if that is who you are, especially knowing you will be ridiculed and mocked, spat upon and even killed by those who were your friends, neighbors…and those you loved the most. I wrote the words “he never had that many friends” to the song Honor in 2009 right around the time I was losing friends on Facebook for simply saying who I was and what I believed.
It would not be wrong to change my colors and appearance in order to keep the peace and perhaps save a friendship, any more than it would be to…say, wash a Latino’s feet for the camera and votes. But it would not be True Love, and might even be considered groveling exploitation…or worse, if your intention is to become master to the servant. And then of course there is always the path of indifference if I am looking for the tranquil waters of coexistence, where the idea is not to make waves and splashing is frowned upon. But could True Love exist here?
“There is no greater blow that can be made to a human soul than indifference.” Think about Ann’s words describing the witnesses to the ultimate persecution, torture and execution of Jesus. Now remember the documentaries of the Holocaust you’ve seen that show the exact same indifference on the faces of German citizens walking past the people with the yellow stars on their sleeves…as if they did not exist!
True Love is unfolding yourself to find the amazing gift from the God who made you, and forgiving those who would look to take what cannot be taken from you.
True Love is the candle that gets us through the night.
True Love is often hated just before we see the light.
Happy Easter Dear Friend… 🙂
Standupnsing 
True Love is many things. Many more than you can possibly mention here. Each of us sees love as something else. Each of us experiences love in their own way. What looks like love to you may not to me. What looks kind to me may look disrespectful to you. But… “to each his own”.
On this day after Easter and day after the week of Passover, I prefer to look at love in a broader sense. Love that opens a door to the miracles of what is good in this world. What inspires us to go on.
Today was the Boston Marathon. I watched as some of the runners from lasts years horrific blast push forth and continue on in what can only be called divine inspiration. There was a calling to move past the horror, the death, the destruction. Not to ignore it, but to move past it. Not to let it transform their hatred to us. Not to allow their vulgar view of the world to color our existence. To have a father push his son in a wheelchair across the finish line. To persevere. Now THAT is something to write about, to think about, to bring into our minds and our hearts. That is inspiration. That is love.
Yes, I agree that true love is what gets you through the night. It is also what gets you through the day. And if you are lucky enough to find it…be smart enough not to let it go.