Day 16 10/27/04

"Because God is love, the most important lesson he wants you to learn on earth is how to love." While I knew that love was one of the most important things to learn, I hadn't ever thought that it is because God is love. Granted there are other ways to describe the Lord (light, truth) but it is His father who is love. He wants to be known for love and he gets known for that because of his children. Scary reminder that people know our parents because of us also.
I sooo love the reminder that we have to learn to love by being around irritating people! Sometimes the isoloation living does sound divine because it eliminates having to express love, but the withdrawl would take away part of our purpose to love each other.
"Life without love is really worthless." how interesting that all 10 Commandment are about relationships. when we are being loved and sharing love I think we feel the most joy. those who actually sense love seem to be able to carry on easier.
"Love will last forever." things of time are sometimes a hard concept especially with the intangibles. I know that it has been years since I've had some lovinging experiences but they still bring smiles to my face. While the material things don't matter, I think having material reminders of loving times is helpful. Pictures often do this for many people. Some times people keep movie stubs or chinese fortunes to remember a time with friends. Those things work for me at times, but a unique part of my remembering of love lasting is the ducks. They represent the days at Cottey when I learned a lot about God's love and love to others. I am reminded of my call to ministry. Mainly I'm reminded how I learned about conditional and unconditional love from a mass of women who each had her own characteristics. So yes love does last because it can impact years from the expression.
"We will be evaluated on our love." I'm printing up the little prayer in the book to give me a reminder to focus more on loving even on the hard days.
The Question to Consider: Most of the time my relationships are top priority. I faulter some because I don't want to be a doormat or just on call. I also try to watch myself from doing that to others. Timing can be tricky with catching up with friends, but I believe even the small jestures of a fun voice mail message can make a difference. It allows saying "hey I love you and I'm thinking of you" without actually saying the dorky words. To ensure that they are priority is to just keep in contact through whatever means are necessary. Thankfully we have phones, mail, and computers that allow us to talk to each other. Most importantly and often forgotten is praying for the friends that we currently have.