Love

 

There is something that surprises me and that is how little a fuss we make about love. Perhaps that sounds a bit weird. People certainly make a big enough fuss at their wedding. Valentines day harangues us all with its foil heart balloons and over priced roses. But I'm talking about a different kind of love. Not the flash in the pan, 'here today gone tomorrow' kind of love. I'm talking about the sacrificial kind, the devoted kind. The kind that week in week out hangs out another's socks on the washing line. The kind that loves till the last. That thinks of another before itself. The kind that wonderfully, unexpectedly, sees the true worth in another and throws its life down in response.

I'm talking about the sheer wonder that human beings commit themselves willingly for life to other human beings. That's the part of weddings that get me going. When you hear that mad set of promises they are making, seeing partners throughout the congregation look sheepishly at each other for the loving they haven't done, and yet we continue to make these outlandish promises for no other reason than because they just think the other person is absolutely wonderful and we want so badly to do it. I think that is wonderful.

I think love is an overlooked gift, that it is God's greatest gift.

My wedding was four and a half years ago now. My husband is my great love, but not the only love in my life. I make a big fuss in my heart for my friends, new and old, and my family whom I love, love, love. But the song we played at our wedding always reminds me of how wonderful, unexpected and joyous this great capacity to love and be loved is.

Here it is: