The past week I have had the chance to dive into the life of Mother Teresa thanks to a class assignment. The way she lived her life was simply riveting. Humanity longs to be loved, be known, and belong. Mother Teresa understood this. Through the awareness of her own person worth in the eyes of the Father, she contained the eyes and heart to see the value of others. Regardless of status or stature, she knew that every individual deserved to experience an encounter with the unrelenting love of Jesus Christ. She allowed herself to become a vessel carrying that message. Fueled by a lifestyle of prayer, sacrifice, and compassion, her willingness to answer the call and say “yes” established a legacy. A prominent journalist during her time, Malcolm Muggeridge, once publicly acknowledged that “she had the viewpoint that could not consider any human being less than absolutely valuable.” Wow. What if we looked at every person we encountered and only perceived “absolute value”?
In my personal opinion, as a society we have equated loving each other to “liking and agreeing” with each other. Mother Teresa once said,“True love is love that causes us pain, that hurts, and yet brings us joy. That is why we must pray to God and ask Him to give us the courage to love.” Experiencing love has nothing to do with what we can personally gain, but everything to with what we can give. True love must be married with sacrifice, humility, and no expectations. Love is more than feelings. We all have mood swings from time to time so our devotion must be greater than our emotion. And, just because we think that we are loving someone well, doesn’t necessarily mean that they are experiencing love. We may have to go beyond what we know and meet them where they are at with what they need rather than what we believe that they need.
This is something that really ignites my curiosity. I want to explore and discover a tangible way for us as a society to love one another better, while personally learning how to love better myself. I cannot give away that which I do not have. I truly believe that it could quite possible be a key that could shake and shift the nation. I am not coming from an idealist standpoint and I am not talking about the overused, lifetime movie, cheesy, hallmark version of love, but the raw, unadulterated love that we were created in the image of. The kind that sees beyond differences and seeks what is best for one another reduces pride and the struggle for power. I’ve actually been inspired potentially write a book on the subject. God is on this. I want to understand it from His perspective, not from what I know or think to be true.
“If we really want to conquer the world, we will not be able to it with bombs or weapons of destruction. Let us conquer the world with our love. Let us interweave our lives with the bonds of sacrifice and love and it will be possible for us to conquer the world.” - Mother Teresa
A gesture does not have to be extraordinary to be great. We can transform our environment simply with a smile or by the words we choose, or by how we react to one another even when we are inconvenienced. We were created in the image of love so it is a part of us. See how many people you can smile at, see how many people you can love today. I’m going to.
"Love Me Because You Love Me"
Love me because you love me.
Do not love to alter or fix me
If it is change that I need
It will happen
The encounter of pure love transforms
Love me because you love me
Not demands or control, but an action
Absent of strings or condition
Simply love me
Make that choice your norm
Love me because you love me
Whether mindsets differ or same
Opposing views aren’t equal to jeopardy and self deprivation
Stop complicating “love me”
Love is meeting one another where we are at
Love me because you love me
Criticism and judgement build confines with in
Provide and make firm a safe place
Let me BE me
Respond in a way that dissipates my established walls
Love me because you love me
The things you cannot comprehend
Reacting in such abashment
Don’t be afraid of me
Perfect love casts out all fear
Love me because you love me
My existence be known and perceived
With the ears of your heart
Hear me
By way compassion truly see
Love me because you love me
I long to love you, just to love you
Sharing a common desire
Acceptance
A thread that bridges us all
Love me because you love me
When will the scales be removed?
Commonalities surpass that which differs
Embrace contrast
Humanity is crying out to be loved
Love me because you love me
No records, anger, or pride
Advancing beyond self
Heart open
The election of love will renew the world’s life
No comments:
Post a Comment