No Greater Love

“But the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13

The wise man Solomon declared that there is a time to love, and at this time dedicated to love, it’s a pleasing sight to watch  the men—young ones and older ones alike—as they walk out of the grocery store,  carrying long-stem roses and dainty posies.  Some of the fellows  look a little self-conscious; others wear a telling smile. They’re participating in an annual ritual  built on a day  devoted to love.  No matter what the private motivation may be for these men, the sentiment is a welcome one even if it’s only  for  one day each year. None of us should be  so cynical as to ask, “What about the other days of the year?  Aren’t the other days  for love also? Yes, they are, but this day is special, and we  welcome the  lovely, pervasive spirit.

One of Shakespeare’s poems, “Sonnet 116,”  has  a few  lines that are worth thinking about at this  season of the year when love is so much in the air.

love  is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the  remover to remove.

The poet here asserts that love doesn’t depend on circumstances. It doesn’t change (alter) when the person loved changes or  calls off the relationship and  leaves. A few lines later in the  poem, he says  that love is a “fixed mark.” That means it’s here to stay.  Those of us who are realists may say that the poet  doesn’t quite understand that human beings  ofter change and “alter” the love relationship, and they might  “bend” in a different direction according to their feelings. It does  happen.

If we’re  looking for constancy in love, we  have to look not to humans but to Christ, who although He  is often  unloved,  still loves.  He loved us  from the very beginning  of  the creation of humans and showed His devotion and constancy  by giving His life in love, even for  those who refused to love Him. He loves us with an everlasting love  (Jeremiah 11:3). Indeed, for Jesus, love is a “fixed mark,” forever constant.  Humans can’t compete with that kind of love.

We tend to love one special person at a time, or  a few  when we include friends and family.  But with God, love is broad and all-inclusive. He loves  the entire human family (John 3:16).  Then, too, the world  centers love on one day in one month  when  hearts and minds make a valiant effort  to give expression to deep feelings.  God’s love, however, is an at-all-times,  year-round, every day affair. There is never a time when He does not love, because “God is love” ( 1 John 4:8).

Because our Lord  loves us so  much, let us  tell Him today and every day  that we truly love Him—even if we can’t bring Him flowers.

Always,

Judith

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“Love is shown more in deeds
than in  words.”
Saint Ignatius