Love like Butter?

No margarine required.  Put away the "Parkay", shelve the "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter."


Yes, another weird title in a long line of them. 
Yes, I haven't posted to this blog in over a year.  So much for the "daily" aspect.  Hey, lots of professional writers take sabbaticals.  How long did it take J.K. Rowling to come out with something after Harry Potter?  What's the last new Peanuts cartoon strip you've read?  (Oh wait, he's dead. Bad example.) Anyway, you get the idea...

Something happened a few nights ago though that practically has my fingers glued to my keyboard this morning.  It demands that I write about it.  It's not a new topic, in fact thousands upon thousands of people have expounded on it yet as a society, as individuals we keep forgetting or ignoring this lesson:

Love is not like butter.
A few years ago my marriage hit a rocky point.  I'm neither proud of it nor embarrassed to admit it.  Through both our faults we had fallen away from each other and are constantly working to re-discover what we loved about the other.  I removed the word "passionate" from that sentence after much deliberation, for reasons you will read about below.  Further grisly details on this topic are not necessary other than to note that my son who was 6 at the time cried one r night as I was putting him to bed, worried about what would happen to Mommy and Daddy and by extension, himself, if we were not together.

Without knowing the other had done it, each of us had told him at separate times not to worry, that whatever happens he is loved without reservation.  That gets to the heart of the title of this blog, which is that love is not like butter at all!  In no way shape or form!

Love doesn't add calories or trans fats the more you have.  There are no artery clogging aspects to love.  It is quite possibly the most beneficial thing to have flowing through your veins.

Love doesn't melt when left out (though we found out left unattended it can curdle), in fact like the fishes and loaves, the more you put out the more you have.  It's a self-replicating, renewable resource.

Love doesn't run out, spread thin on just one piece of toast.  If applied properly, love covers the entire slice, and multiple slices, again and again and again.  As many loaves as you need.

This lesson as I have already stated is neither new nor profound, yet it amazes me how often we forget it.
We confuse aspects of Love with Passion.  Passion is a spur of the moment, flash in the pan intense feeling.  Passion is that giddy feeling when you sit in the new car you just purchased, or when you just snuck home for a "Nooner."  Love involves not only affection but compassion and is far reaching. It is holding someone's hair out of the way as they throw up because of the Flu, or remembering that we all make mistakes and not constantly lording those transgressions over someone after promising to forgive them.  Had I remembered this lesson well enough I would not have hurt my wife like I did.  We confuse aspects of Love with how much we like someone.  Who are we to decide who is deserving of our Love?  Christ commanded us to even love our enemies.  We confuse Love with things that expire, with things that will run out, with things that are finite rather than looking at the infinite.

God's love for us spans an entire universe.  It extends so far that He sent His only son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our salvation.  That act, that love, covers all our sins if we only choose to believe and by extension, show that love in the short time we have here.

The second biggest mistake we make in my view, after confusing Love with Passion, is in how we choose to show that love.  We assume there are various levels of love, or amounts of love, or those that are more deserving of our love.  Christ didn't differentiate.  While on Earth he shared his love equally, without reservation and without differentiation or prejudice and taught us that in order for the world to have Heaven on Earth, we need to do the same.  When none of us are worthy of it, we still receive God's love and that is THE major difference.

So no matter what happens, my son should know he is loved, by both of us, but more importantly by God.  Whether we're together for another 50 years, whether we are apart tomorrow, whether there is another child in our family or whether he remains an only child, there is unfailing love.  By extension our friends, our family, our co-workers and yes even total strangers should know that we hold God's love for them also, both in prayer and by our actions.  Whether that involves helping a friend move, showing compassion in the face of adversity or loss, or just taking the time out of your day to let someone know they are in your thoughts you exhibit that love and by extension receive more than you ever thought you would.

So with all that said, know that I love you.
(Though rest assured there will be times when I don't like you...)