Reflections on Love
Searching the internet, I found the following trivia.
“The word “love” appears 310 times in the King James Bible, 348 times in the New American Standard Bible, 551 times in the New International Version and 538 times in the New Revised Standard Version.”
Partial to the King James version, I have invited Linda to quote the following familiar verses.
John 13:34 “34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.”
1 Peter 1:22 “22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:”
1 John 4:7-8 “7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”
As in everything Christ sets the ideal and the rest of us follow along as best we can, a stunted shrub in the shadow of a sequoia. I would like to share with you some reflections on love that I found tucked away in my endless endnotes. It is more like a stream of consciousness than an organized essay. As I read reflect upon your own views of love. The word is varied and never sits still because we may love a dog or a cat or a piece of art. We may love this song or that song. I love sitting on my balcony watching the fireflies sprinkle the night air with fairy dust. I love chocolate and I love blue grass. I love my family. I love my country. And I love God. One would never place them in the same category.
Therefore, just bear along with me and my rambling musings, perhaps reflecting upon your own thoughts of love as you look back over your life. Across the creek from our cabin is a small restaurant. Every Friday they used to play blue grass music. In the heat of the summer they kept the back door open and the music escaped to my ears. Just such music prompted my own “Reflections on Love.”
Oh, paltry man, swooning under the moon, do you think that by plucking on a string and whining endless rhymes through your nose, you understand love? You understand more about indigestion than love. Your stomach growls as many love songs as your tripping tongue. Love transcends everything. The blood may burn with lust, but like a match that bursts into flames when struck by a scratchy surface, lust dies. Love, however, lives forever and heals all wounds. Those whose whole natural being is to keep lust alive will never find love and will find that in the end they will be alone wondering how they could have been so deceived. Lust consumes with a brief burning passion, but love bears fruit forever. Wrinkled flesh holding hands and hobbling together toward that unseen world after years of trials and combined tears and selfless sacrifice knows more about love than is contained in all the ballads of star cross lovers whined through the nose of an aging artist in a smoke-filled bar.
Earth life is an analogy of heaven. Imagine heaven as a perfect earth, the total absence of evil, the comprehensive presence of all-consuming love! As children of our Father in Heaven, we are all brothers and sisters, equal in his eyes for God is “no respecter of persons.” Racism is of the devil to divide the family of God. We are all unique, and all racial discrimination is artificial and has no eternal value.
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