"Love is of source unknown yet it grows ever deeper. The living may die of it, by its power the dead live again. Love is not love at its fullest if one who is living is unwilling to die for it, or if it cannot restore to life one who has died. And must love that comes in dream necessarily be unreal? For there is no lack of dream lovers in this world. Only for those whose love must be fulfilled on the pillow, and for whom affection deepens only after retirement from office, is it an entirely corporeal matter." - From the Peony Pavilion
Love blooms - often from the moment we first set eyes on a person. Sometimes, the person is unseen - for 9 months. And, as those 9 months drag on, we fall more and more in love with the little one we expectantly wait to greet.
I remember my daughter asking me, "What if he has abnormalities? What if he is born retarded or without some fingers or arms?" I responded solemnly and sincerely, "We will love him anyway. We will take care of him and nurture him and help him to grow in whatever manner we need to."
I try to take a lesson from that in everyday life as well. As we go through life, we encounter all kinds of people. People with physical ailments, mental ailments, and some who are just plain different. We don't know their story. We don't know why the cashier just can't make eye contact today (the love of her life just left her and to look into anyone's eyes might cause her emotional collapse?), or someone is riding our ass in traffic (rushing to the hospital to be by the side of a loved one?), or the teenager rushes past, knocking your bag of groceries to the ground (his Crone's Disease is acting up again?). We don't know their stories. So maybe it's best to just take some time to offer love in these situations. By not angrily snatching the change from the cashier, by not flipping off the driver, and not yelling after the teenager.
Believe me, we feel better for it when we let go of the anger and let go of the hate; when we accept life for what it is and realize that we are all in this together.
All for Love: Copy and paste for a beautiful ending to today's post: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgDfzvQPDFM
