What The World Needs Now

I went to bed saying, what we need is more love.

We don't need more things. We don't need more time.

We don't need more money. What we need is more love.

It reminded me of the oldie goldie song.

Let's remember what we need - now - not later.

Love & Fullness

Ephesians 3:19"...to know the love of Christ...filled with the fullness of God."

To know the love of Christ is to be filled with the fullness of God. WOW.

John 1:14 says, "The Word became flesh, the glory of God...full of grace and truth."

John 1:16 says we all have received His fullness.

Colossians 2:19 says, "in Him dwells all the fullness of God."

Feel the fullness of God in your soul through the love of Christ.

Your Soil and Your Roots

A startling thing happened. In the South, football is sacred. An Alabama fan poisened the oak trees at the entrance to Auburn University. As this was news, I read Ephesians 3:17 in a new light: "rooted and grounded in love." Someone poisened their soil, to kill the trees. I can see how things or even people could poisen our soils of love to kill us. It all makes sense. Make sure you protect your soil from predators. If your soil is good, your roots will be nourished. Let your soil be good, so your roots will grow stronger. Watch out for things that poisen you.

Love the Truth

II Thessalonians 2:10 says "they did not receive the love of the truth..." The next verse says they live under delusion, they believe lies. We have to be careful, because we will believe in something. If we believe lies, we won't believe the truth. If we don't love truth, we won't seek truth. And if we believe less, we receive less. Love the truth. Seek it and receive it. So, you won't believe the lies/lesser truths.

Let your text be Love

It was said of Saint Francis, that although he spoke no words, his text was God's love.

Today, even if you don't speak, let your love be evident.

Words are not necessary to show love.

Controlled by God's Love for God's Purposes

"Spiritual gifts are supernatural abilities bestowed by the Holy Spirit on Christians to build up the church and glorify God. Spiritual gifts are gifts of grace, and must be controlled by the greatest of all spiritual gifts - love." (p. 142, Live Deeply, Heitzig & Rose)

All our gifts should be subjected to the greatest gift of all, love.

Our goal is to build up the church, we do this by loving.

Build up your church today, love your neighbor, love your enemy.

Embroider LOVE into your life

This was a window at Tiffany's:

L is for Love

O is for One & Only

V is for Valentine

E is for Embrace

The beautiful blue of Tiffany's is contrasted by the gorgeous pink of Valentine's Day hue. It's stitched in silk...silk is delicate. It takes time to embroider...be patient.

Love Acts Responsibly

"There is exists in love a particular responsibility - the responsibility for a person who is drawn into the closest possible partnership in the and activity of another, and becomes in a sense the property of whoever benefits from the this gift of self. It follows that one also has a responsibility for one's own love: is it mature and complete enough to justify the enormous trust of another person, the hope that giving oneself will not mean losing one's own 'soul', but on the contrary enlarging one's existence...Responsibility for love clearly clearly comes down to responsibility for the person, originates in it and returns to it. This is what makes it such an immense responsibility. But its immensity can only be understood by one who has a complete awareness of the value of the person." (p. 130, Love & Responsibility, Wojtyla)

He concludes with "The greater the feeling of responsibility for the person the more true love there is." (p. 131)

When I started this blog, I did not know about this book. I happened upon it on Amazon. But there it was, my thoughts exactly: There needs to be responsibility for love.

I am feeling responsible for my Mom's health and happiness now, and this reminds me, it's because I love her.

The Divine Aspect of Love

When Karol Wojtyla explains 'the divine aspect of love,' he describes it "to desire 'unlimited' good for another person is really to desire God for that person...The great moral force of true love lies precisely in this desire for the happiness, for the true good, of another person....if true love awakens in me it bids me seek the true good where the object of my love is concerned." He concludes with "Love is indeed the highest of moral values." (p. 138, 139, Love & Responsibility, Wojtyla)

Later he says, "The longing for true happiness for another person, a sincere devotion to that person's good, puts the priceless imprint of altruism on love." (page 145)

As we would say today: It's a good thing.

Love is a Virtue

"Love in the full sense of the word is a virtue, not just an emotion, and still less a mere excitement of the senses. This virtue produced in the will and has at its disposal the resources of the will's spiritual potential...Love as a virtue is oriented by the will towards the value of the person." (p. 123, Love & Responsibility, Wojtyla)

It is virtuous to love. When I looked up virtue, I discovered it is 'moral excellence.' It is foundational for moral goodness. In other words, it's good for us and others. That's why it's a virtue, as recognized and valued by the world. It's the way we were created to be.

The Ethics of Love

"There is no possibility of psychological completeness in love unless ethical completeness is attained...In other words, love as experience should be subordinated to love as virtue, - so much so that without love as virtue there can be no fullness in the experience of love." (page 120,Love & Responsibility, Wojtyla)

There is an ethics of love. Love is a gift. Love is a virtue. It must be guarded. It must be protected. Experience and exercise with caution, and joy.

Sympathy and Love

Pope John Paul II teaches us that 'sympathy' in it's Greek origin is the combination of 'syn' [together with] and the verb 'pathein' [to experience]. He says, "Literally, then, sympathy means no more nor less than 'experiencing together.' (p. 88,89, Love & Responsibility)

If you experience life with others, you will "be with them" and that will bring comfort.

Sympathy is not a card, it's a life coming alongside another.

Loving involves your participation in the lives of others.

Love is Communion

Pope John Paul II in his earlier writings said, "The structure of love is that of an interpersonal communion." He said that after stating we need "we" in relationship, not two "I's". (page 88, Love & Responsibility)

I think his depiction of communion between two is very sensitive .

It's communion. It's sweet. It's sharing.

It's not corporate. It's not cooperating. Although it's both, it's higher than that.

Commune with those you love. That's the structure about which we should operate.

Love & Goodwill

"Goodwill is the same as selflessness in love: not 'I long for you as a good' but 'I long for your good', 'I long for that which is good for you'. Love as goodwill, is therefore love in a more unconditional sense...It is the purest form of love. Goodwill brings us as close to the 'pure essence' of love as it is possible to get." (p.83,84, Love & Responsibility, Karol Wojtyla)

How about some goodwill for your neighbor today!

Loving Develops Us

Karol Wojtyla in his book, Love & Responsibility, says, "Love is the fullest realization of the possibilities inherent in man. The potential inherent in the person is most fully actualized through love. The person finds in love the greatest possible fullness of being...Love is an activity, a deed which develops the existence of the person to its fullest." (page 82)

Loving develops us into truer, more alive human beings, more capable than we were before.

Love is Uniting

"Love is the unification of persons." (page 38, Karol Wojtyla, Love & Responsibility)

Love is what brings people together.

Love is what unites.

What do we need in this fractured world? We need love, not only to bring us together, but to heal our hearts.

Listen First

"The first duty of love is to listen." Paul Tillich

First listen.

The first action of love should be to listen to the other.

Don't let listening be second.

Using is not Loving

Karol Wojtyla, later known as Pope John Paul II, wrote a book entitled, Love & Responsibility. First of all the title hit me right away. After all, it's what I've been convicted of the responsibility that comes with love. But Harol had this conviction way back in 1960 when he wrote this book. In the first chapter, one of his headings reads: 'Love' as the opposite of 'using.' What a clarifier. If you need clarification, just ask are you loving or using. He goes on to say, "Man's capacity for love depends on his willingness consciously to seek a good together with others, and to subordinate himself to that good for the sake of others, or to others for the sake of that good."

He expounds by saying we must "free ourselves from the utilitarian, the 'consumer' attitude [Latin consumere = 'use') towards other persons."

(page 28, 29)

Love's Hallmark

"Sharing is the hallmark of love." (Gray Keller, http://intentionalsolutions.blogspot.com for 01.19.11)

Gray's words bring clarity to a big cloud that love is in the midst of.

Sometimes these concepts are so big they hang over us and we can't see through them.

Here's a simple test: Are you sharing? If so, you are loving.

Look for it.

Love is Strong

"I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge -

myth is more potent that history -

dreams are more powerful than facts -

hope always triumphs over experience -

laughter is the cure for grief -

love is stronger than death."

Robert Fulghum