I love you

Cartoon from Virgil @"Cartoons on the back of business cards"

In church today, an elderly woman was sitting in the pew in front of me. We said our hellos, and I chatted with her and my friend before the beginning of the service. She asked me what the time was and I told her. She thanked me. She asked me where her friend was, and I told her I wasn't sure. She thanked me.

At the passing of the peace, she turned around with great effort to say, "Peace", to me. I held her hand for a moment and she unexpectedly leaned into me and hugged me tight. She curled her face towards my ear and said, "I love you."

Her words and smile were so sweet, sincere and childlike. Tears immediately sprung to my eyes, not because I heard her speak these kind words, but because I felt them impact my heart.

Love has a funny way of sneaking up on you, taking you off guard, and reminding you of what life really is all about.

I gently hugged her back and said, "I love you too."
Not out of obligation or politeness, but because she showed me what love was first.
She was the brave one to reach out to simply share love with someone this morning.
How fortunate that someone happened to be me.

In my words and deeds, God help me to be lavish with love. You are so giving to me, why shouldn't I be with others? It's my hope that I'm as generous with love as my pew neighbor was - so much so that it's not something you hear, but something that wraps around those who receive it. Warming the chill of life from their hearts so that they in turn can reach out in love too.

Love is something that can be spoken, but it's best expressed as an action. Live in love, work in love, be challenged in love, but always, always remember the unexpected power of love.

1 Corinthians 13:13 (New International Version)

13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.