Questions
I've been thinking about this for a few days now, and finally wrote something down in words.
It all has to do with this quote from the song Sigh No More by Mumford and Sons that a friend shared with me earlier this week :
It's one of those things that just rings so obviously true. But I've been thinking... I have questions, like how does this apply in circumstances where you are constantly around people that you must love (family, coworkers, whatever) but who consistently directly or indirectly (with or without knowing it) hurt you with their ideas, attitudes, incapacity to work things out, whatever?
How does one show love to a person one doesn't even trust anymore anyway? I'm not talking about caring for their safety or well-being or even just doing nice things for them. We're all capable of being nice to people we don't like.
What is love anyway? I guess the answer to that is the same as the answer to What is truth?
So if love is that Trinity, that everlasting and complete sharing of self from Father to Son through the Holy Spirit; if God created us in his own image, and to share in his love, then love is first of all, that quest for God and secondly, the mutual sharing of that same quest for him with other men (and women) around us. Love is, in its highest form, challenging each other in our quest to learn more about God, to follow Him and serve Him.
This is what makes marriage a sacrament, that mutual challenging, the uplifting, the praying together and for each other, because the end is always to be more and more like God and with God.
But that kind of thing isn't exclusive to couples, to love your family, friends and coworkers is essentially the same. It's a mutual sharing of who you are, but for which the same goal is present, the uplifting of the other person, the mutual challenging in faith, the looking towards higher things, praying with and for each other.
So my question is : How do you love someone who DOES NOT want this? How do you show love to someone who ignores it? How do you give a piece of your soul to someone who rejects it? Is it possible to love someone like that WITHOUT being betrayed, dismayed or enslaved? And how does one do this and still remain FREE?
And if the world is to be saved by love, then just being nice isn't enough, is it? I wish I knew the answer to that.
It all has to do with this quote from the song Sigh No More by Mumford and Sons that a friend shared with me earlier this week :
Love, it will not betray you,And I'm just going to copy/paste what I already wrote :
Dismay or enslave you,
It will set you free
It's one of those things that just rings so obviously true. But I've been thinking... I have questions, like how does this apply in circumstances where you are constantly around people that you must love (family, coworkers, whatever) but who consistently directly or indirectly (with or without knowing it) hurt you with their ideas, attitudes, incapacity to work things out, whatever?
How does one show love to a person one doesn't even trust anymore anyway? I'm not talking about caring for their safety or well-being or even just doing nice things for them. We're all capable of being nice to people we don't like.
What is love anyway? I guess the answer to that is the same as the answer to What is truth?
So if love is that Trinity, that everlasting and complete sharing of self from Father to Son through the Holy Spirit; if God created us in his own image, and to share in his love, then love is first of all, that quest for God and secondly, the mutual sharing of that same quest for him with other men (and women) around us. Love is, in its highest form, challenging each other in our quest to learn more about God, to follow Him and serve Him.
This is what makes marriage a sacrament, that mutual challenging, the uplifting, the praying together and for each other, because the end is always to be more and more like God and with God.
But that kind of thing isn't exclusive to couples, to love your family, friends and coworkers is essentially the same. It's a mutual sharing of who you are, but for which the same goal is present, the uplifting of the other person, the mutual challenging in faith, the looking towards higher things, praying with and for each other.
So my question is : How do you love someone who DOES NOT want this? How do you show love to someone who ignores it? How do you give a piece of your soul to someone who rejects it? Is it possible to love someone like that WITHOUT being betrayed, dismayed or enslaved? And how does one do this and still remain FREE?
And if the world is to be saved by love, then just being nice isn't enough, is it? I wish I knew the answer to that.
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