Love is…

I’ve mentioned before that one of my favorite things is leaving work on Thursday nights, it’s Faith in Culture night on the Busted Halo Show. I really enjoy listening to Fr. Dave & crew chat with listeners about where they see and experience faith in everyday culture: music, movies, television shows etc. The conversations are always interesting, giving me pause to think. Sometimes I’ll be so moved by what I’ve heard that my own thinking shifts into high gear and I don’t hear much more between wherever I am and home.
Well, if time allowed I’d have a faith in culture moment from a recent So you Think you can Dance. Nigel Lythgoe, in speaking of a particular dance, said that sometimes love is ugly and these dancers evoked that image. I got it, I could see what that kind of love, that “I know we’re going through a very difficult time right now and I’ve got your back” kind of love. You know that type of love where she has breast cancer, he has ALS, they’re struggling financially because of a job loss that they had no control over. And sometimes that ugly side of love means letting go of something you’ve wanted to hold on to. . .a dream, a goal, a hope, a fear, a ???
Love.

Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, [love] is not pompous, it is not inflated,it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.  It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.Love never fails. If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing.

We hear these words of Scripture so often that they become part of the background noise. Something kind of soothing – like the sound of the ocean waves lapping against the shore, at night, quiet, lulling.
Looking deeper though
Patience and kindness take work – hard work and determination
Love does not take anything away from the other person, nor does it offer opportunities for the love of our life to go down those paths of mistrust that lead to great damage
Love does not deliberately injure the other in a way that causes permanent damage and doubt.

Great love sometimes causes deep grief at its loss – the death of a spouse or the heartache of having to admit that we can no longer care of a loved one on our own but need help for their safety and well-being.

How He Loves
He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realize just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us, oh,
Oh, how He loves us,
How He loves us all

He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realise just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us, oh,
Oh, how He loves us,
How He loves us all

Yeah, He loves us,
Oh, how He loves us,
Oh, how He loves us,
Oh, how He loves.

And we are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If his grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.
And Heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about the way…

He loves us,
Oh, how He loves us,
Oh, how He loves us,
Oh, how He loves.
Yeah, He loves us,
Oh, how He loves us,
Oh, how He loves us,
Oh, how He loves.

Yeah, He loves us,
Oh, how He loves us…
Oh, how He loves us…
Oh, how He loves us.

Love holds us responsible.
Love asks much of me.
Love asks me to take risks.
Love asks me to let go.
Love asks me to make sacrifices
Love asks me to be mindful of the other
Love asks me to be mindful of myself with others in mind
Love asks me to love myself
Love asks me to be so much more than I am right now
Love asks me to be kind when it’s hard
Love asks me to be more
Love often feels like a warm fuzzy feeling
Love is more than than though
Love is determination
Love is sticktoittivenessLove is a steel rod in the spine

Which brings us to quilting: as a teacher I do my very best to be mindful of you and your needs in class; to be mindful of each student. As a quilter I want to need to push that envelope, explore new things, try new things, keep stitching even when the seam ripper has to come out. That’s my work as a quilter.  I have so many questions I want to ask to begin a discussion on how we love ourselves, love others deeply through quilting – or whatever art we find ourselves drawn to: writing, painting, other fiber arts; brick laying, bridge building, making things, taking care of others and the list goes on and on and on.

but only one questions: how do you express that love?

And now I’m off to share some quilting love.

God bless!

Teri