A friend of mine asked an interesting question on facebook, "How do I show someone how much I love him?" My first response was, "You can't."
Love is something that cannot be said. Like the song says, it is more than words. In order to tell someone I love him or her I must first show him or her that I love. Don't get me wrong- I love to hear and be reminded that someone loves me. At the same time actions can negate those words far more thoroughly than the inverse. I believe that lots of people love me, regardless of whether or not they are actually aware of it. I have a friend who volunteers a lot at my work (I work at a Catholic Church) and this week he referred to me as "dear"*.
My nephew interviewed me a few months ago, asking me what it was like working at a Church. I told him that it was a lot like being the hands of God here on earth but that being God's hands also meant that I got my fingers caught in doors a lot. That is still love.
I also know that small acts of love for complete strangers may me cry. Some friends of mine carry around bottles of water and canned instant soup with the pop tops to give to homeless people on the side of the road. My parish has been collecting food continuously for our small Farmer community. And yet, it will never be enough.
There are so many people out there that want to be loved and spend way too much time, money, and energy in order to feel love or something that masquerades as love, but really, if they tried loving another person, they would feel so much better. Love isn't about receiving- love is about giving. God is love. And until you have God as your center, everything else will be consistently befuddling. "Our hearts are restless until we rest in You."
And yet, He still loves us. He doesn't have to tell us- we just know. So, the short answer to my friend's question is, "Treat them as God sees them... and God will do the rest."
*In case you are wondering what my reaction to this was, I almost fell out of my chair laughing.
No comments:
Post a Comment