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Lately, I have been thinking a lot about Love. In the past, I interacted with Love as if it was assumed. I think perhaps I mistook infatuation or really like or lust for Love, but the reality of Love is much different than those more urgent preoccupations. Love is what remains after everything else has fallen away. It’s the willingness to endure someone else’s worst habits or qualities, and perhaps even appreciate them because of their flaws. It is forgiveness, grace, patience, appreciation, tolerance, commitment, and, yes, it includes faith. 

I ran into an old friend recently, and I love him dearly. He is terribly flawed, just like the rest of us and in his own unique ways, and he is quite aware of it. He is not well loved by the people in his life, and I know this causes him a great deal of pain. I think some people, and perhaps men in particular, are capable of immense, profound, unconditional love and somehow, simultaneously, they are very uncomfortable with being loved. Many of us are like that.

The thing about God or Good or Love is, we have to be ready. It’s just like having kids. It’s almost like we’re making a commitment to ourselves. And not everyone is ready to be Loved, just like not everyone is ready to believe in Good. Sometimes, we stay in the dark because it’s what we know. It’s comfortable. We don’t have to look at ourselves or our fears in the light if we stay with them in the dark. 

I will say that experimenting with having faith and believing unconditionally in a positive future has made me more open to Love and being more Loving. There is something about the support of Good or God that makes us more capable of God or Good in action, which is Love. Love is an expression of Good. It is a byproduct of having faith. As we work to have faith in Good or God, we become willing to extend that same sentiment to other people, having faith in them, in ourselves, and whatever lies between us.