Love Isn't Always A Many-Splendored Thing
Saturday of the First Week of Lent
My dear encountered couples:
Jesus wants us to show love towards our enemies, towards people who don’t love us. He knows that isn’t easy. To emphasize he knows it isn’t easy, he mentions how easy it is to show love towards those who do love us. “If you love those who love you,” he says, “what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same?” Yes, it is easier to love people who think we are God’s gift to the world. But not always. Sometimes we find it hard to love even our best friends. Ongoing, continuing, uninterrupted love for those deepest in our hearts is not always easy. Something in us seems to make loving anybody all the time a difficult task.
Maybe that’s because we’re so closely governed by our feelings. We tend strongly to do things along the lines of how we feel at the time. When we feel well and happy we find it easier to show love; when we feel badly, tired, irritated, we find it hard to love anybody. We might prefer to be left alone - don’t bother me. It is during those times that loving our best friends becomes a challenge, and loving enemies sounds ridiculous to us. We can be as changeable and unpredictable as the weather when it comes to how well we respond and react to anyone who ventures our way.
Let’s face it: Love towards any person at all is not a constant in our lives. We can all expect times when only a lot of effort will prove whether we are loving people deep down or not. Do you love anyone? Listen to what you say and look at what you do when you don’t feel like loving. Then you’ll maybe get a good idea.
