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and vaqueros, beef, Don't get me wrong . . . . . ., key and vital lessons, My truth is . . . . ., Ohio Buckeye - Illini - Blue Ridge Mountains, tango, The better love, the pleasures' thrills paled
Once upon a time – the better love
Once upon a time, there was a man whose life’s path took him many direction. While still a youth, his roots in the Ohio Buckeye soil were replanted in the Blue Ridge mountains and streams. His “how are you?” gave way to “how y’all do-n?”
After some more transitions which took him to Cornhusker land, the Empire State, the land of Lincoln, and Mary’s Land, he left the Land of the free and the brave, ending up in the land of beef, tango music, and vaqueros. But, his years still were not finished. The land of 10,000 lakes were still to be explored, as was the land of the Illini.
During those many years of ongoing transitions, the man picked up some key and vital lessons and principles in life. One, in particular, is the one the man wants to mention at this point.
Over time, he learned and incorporated the fact that not all people saw life as he did. They made decisions in critical times and in rather easy times. But, they used different values. Some people seemed to live basically to pursue various pleasures; at least they called them pleasures. They diligently followed those desired pleasures until the pleasures’ thrills paled into boredom. And, then they began the search for a different pleasure or thrill.
Then, there were the folk whom he met who told him that they wanted “the truth” – the ideas that helped them make sense out of the vagaries and puzzles of life. They were looking for the “keys” to life, the secrets to success. They read the biographies of the greatly admired people, hoping to latch on to the clues to social success.
Well, the man thought to himself, “That sounds somewhat vague”, and so the man began asking for examples. They told the man things like:
“My truth”, one person told the man, is ‘happiness is the consequence of having enough riches to buy whatever I want and whenever I want it.” Then another person told the man, “My truth is that happiness comes when I am out fishing with my friends.”
Well, it didn’t take the man any time at all to realize that this kind of search for “the truth” wasn’t going to get anywhere; it had become so personalized that there was no overarching reality holding things together. There was no North Pole which would allow every one to have a specific location point on Earth.
Where am I going with these comments? Simply to this: All our personal reality must be anchored to the God of love. God created and maintains love. God created us to live in love. That created, maintained, restored reality of love is where life finds its resting place, its joy, its solace, and its ability to strengthen us.
Don’t get me wrong – Although we should rest and take joy in God’s love, my point is this – As good as it is to be loved, it is even better, and greater, more satisfying, and even more God-like to love. Let’s not forget – God’s love is not His response to our love for Him. God loves us humans when we don’t even love Him!
God loves even those that hate Him. God loving us is the key to Godly life. To say it just a little differently – To love in response to being loved may be nice and appropriate. BUT, to love even those who do not love, is even better and more God like.
