"Like a song, carooning my soul like strings on a harp
entertaining all the hidden parts of me;
Oh love maybe you have found me, although I have hidden from you at times
you have been patient and bidden your time till
I was ready to see your truth and beauty
Never far away..." Andrea Joy Cohen, M.D.
What is something you cannot live without? Shelter? Food? Cell phone? Wi-fi? Or television? Your journal maybe? Clothing to keep you warm perhaps? Your favorite book? Feminist activist and famous poet Edna St. Millay portrayed in Sonnet 30 her thoughts on what love is and what it's not. In her final lines of this sonnet, she recognizes the pain and distress and even harsh memory that love can leave behind - essentially WHAT it leaves in its absence. She discovers that although tough times may "drive" or tempt her to "sell love for peace" or "trade the memory for food," she chooses not to. For many of us, we would probably trade with no question, especially when it produced pain. But her final and lasting thought is what reveals not just what's most important but what is paradoxically needed most: love.
This is not to ignore that basic needs such as food, shelter, and clothing are necessities for one's ability to survive in a more comfortable and enjoyable manner. But what if we go a step further and arrive at the heart of the matter? What if we really observe what keeps people fighting for life, what keeps people serving others, what keeps people yearning to see another day? Could it be that deep down, they look and desperately hope for someone to offer them love? To see the greatness within them that they have somehow lost sight of? To see beyond their mistakes and flaws and appearance? Many survivors of life threatening diseases and debilitations have been found to overcome and gain healing of those diseases through a significant amount and recognition of love from other people and love for themselves. This does not obliterate usage of medicine or therapy to heal sick people; but it does propigate the notion that love is something we were created to need for true survival, for a true and meaningful life.
As we experience the world and grow in the world, it is no surprise that we can easily become hardened to love and even impenetrable. We can walk around with opaque hearts to others and hide from the true essence of what love brings: intimacy, healing, transparency - all forms of light. Light to see, and light to reflect. This may be why 1 Corinthians 13:13 states that "the greatest of these is love." Martin Luther King Jr. even testifies that "love is the most durable power." Our ability to love without borders is what allows God's miracles to truly manifest themselves through our imitation of Christ and duplication in relationships.
How do you know if you are demonstrating love? Well, it is when you demonstrate patience, kindness, gentleness, self control, humility, selflessness, hope, faith, peace, honor, truth, and grace towards all people. And in case it needs to be said, demonstrating these above attributes EVEN when it's hard or when someone seemingly does not deserve it. Isn't that what Christ demonstrates to us every second of every minute of every hour of every day? If you know, believe, and receive that, then you too are called to demonstrate the same. But Christ must be at the core of it ALL...
