Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Amore.

[NOTE: THIS POST WAS ORIGINALLY INTENDED FOR WAY BACK IN THE BEGINNING OF FEBRUARY... I PICKED OUT THIS THEME, BECAUSE, WELL, YOU KNOW: FEBRUARY, LOVE... IT JUST MADE SENSE! HOWEVER, MY BUSY, CRAZY LIFE GOT IN THE WAY, SO WRITING AND PUBLISHING THIS POST IS COMING MUCH LATER THAN INTENDED... BUT, HERE IT IS AT LAST.]


So you know what's a super colossally difficult and altogether extraordinary concept to grasp?

LOVE.  

And I don't necessarily mean the goo-goo, romantic, fairytale love that immediately jumps to all of our minds, even though that's a huge part of it... I just mean love. In general. 

The dictionary defines love as a million different things. It can be a noun, or it can be a verb; it can be a person, a feeling, an action, an object, a concept, a quality... it can arise from kinship or necessity or lust or desire or admiration. You can love things, you can be in love with someone, you can love to do something; you can LOOK for love or FIND it or GIVE it or RECEIVE it or FEEL it. (Believe it or not, "Love" by Matt White just started playing on my Pandora station! Haha)

Love can make people do marvelous things. People move across huge distances for love; we cry because of it and laugh because of it; it makes us feel exuberant and despondent and hopeful and hopeless and complete and empty and content and fulfilled, all within the course of its journey up and down and in and out of our lives. The scope of love is so powerful, and there is so much in the world that demonstrate how big of a role it plays in our existence. Look at all of the stories, all of the history -- Romeo killed himself because he thought he had lost Juliet. Paris started a war for Helen. Elizabeth and Darcy laid down their lifelong prides for each other. Olga of Kiev ruled an empire for her son; Mulan went to war so that her father wouldn't have to (give me a little on this one). Elizabeth Gilbert traveled the world to discover love for herself, and, perhaps the most famous love story of all... God loved the world so much that He gave his only Son to DIE.... for US. It's remarkable, really. 

John 13:34 says "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love another" (NIV).  Of all the things Jesus talked about, He placed so much emphasis on this-- that we love each other. It seems so simple, and yet it's so complex. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 details everything that loving someone encompasses, and it's really quite a tremendous thing, to love someone: 

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."

It's such a beautiful thing, to love someone... and just as beautiful, if not more so, to be loved by someone else. Whatever season of life you're in, and whether that 'someone' is your mother, father, brother, sister, roommate, best friend, great aunt, dog, cat, boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife, son, daughter... it's just so profound.  To care for someone (or be cared for) so deeply that all of your faults, flaws, and weaknesses are accepted... overlooked... even cherished, because they make you who you are... that is something splendid. That we have the capacity to embrace someone in our hearts (because an embrace requires so much more than just open arms), and to see and understand all of the qualities that make them who they are... that is a miracle. 

Love is a miracle.

In whatever form that we are blessed enough to find love as we walk our journeys through life, we are finding a miracle. How lucky are we?