Ok so I admit that I really can't stand the Youtube videos with the lyrics and the weird graphics and fonts (I mean really just look at that), but I love this song and it's been stuck in my head all day because of things surrounding love that have been roaming through my brain.
It's called "Nothing's Bigger Than Love" by My Favorite Highway (they split up and, since they were basically my favorite band, consequently broke my angsty 17-year-old heart but anyway...)
So anyway. Love. What is it? How do you know you're in love? What do people mean when they say God is love? How is real love different from the love that is portrayed in books and on movie screens?
I'm going to mega-trite here and pull a definition straight out of the Word of God. If you've never heard this, I have no idea where you've been since the Catholic Church put the Bible together:
"Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, [love] is not pompous, it is not inflated,
it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,
it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.
It bears all things, believes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails. If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing.
So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love."
- 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, 13Today, I was sulking. I admit it. I was resembling that irritating angsty "oh em gee why is it always mehhhh?" 17-year-old I used to be, not the usually bubbly and happy person I am now.
Before I continue, I would like to explain what I do everyday when I nanny. I come in, say goodbye to their mom, open my laptop, say hi to the boys when they wake up, sit on my computer while they watch TV, make lunch (I also admit to completely forgetting about this part of a person's day on Monday and didn't even realize I hadn't made them lunch upon opening up the garbage can to find 7 ice cream sandwich wrappers...oops), return to my computer while they swim or something until their mom comes home. I mean yes I play basketball and will throw them the ball in the pool everyday, but it's not much. I'm not really caring for them. I'm just there to make sure they don't burn down the house, jump out of a window trying to make it into a pool, and, of course, to make sure they are fed so they don't collectively end up eating 7 ice cream sandwiches.
So today, the 10-year-old (we'll call him B) wanted to swim. I was super smart and decided to bring my suit today. Not to swim of course, but to tan while I sat outside watching them swim. His younger brother was at a friend's house and the eldest was playing video games. So I went outside, in my irritated why-are-you-making-me-get-off-the-couch-and-away-from-my-awful-reading-choices (I'm talking about you TFM and TSM articles) state, and grudgingly took my place at the top of the stairs to start tossing him the ball. Finally, at one point, I went to check my phone and it hit me like a ton of bricks: this is not how God wants me to be living. This silly misery. This stupid attitude. This person who was not me.
I was made to love. I needed to return to loving others around me. So I ran into the house, grabbed a towel, and jumped in with him. We ended up having a GREAT time. I had spent the last month complaining about these kids and how horrible I thought they were, but we ended up swimming for a solid two hours and the time flew by. I found joy again. The click was there. God was calling me to love and I was finally figuring it out. I ran home with a smile on my face and gave my mom a hug immediately upon meeting her at the door. I was so blessed and I have been so selfish lately. I have been completely neglecting everyone else in my own self pity. I haven't been loving them. At least not to the extent that God wants from me.
In John Paul II's (PAUSE JUST A SECOND HE IS GOING TO BE A SAINT OH MY GOODNESS AHHHHHHHHHHHHH) Love and Responsibility, he talks about what love is. Love is wanting the good for someone. If I love you, I want what is best for you. I will do what I can to make sure you get the best. That's love.
I need to start showing that love more to everyone. I need to pray for more people. The good and the best is Heaven with God. I love my family and so I want them in Heaven with me so I will try to be a good example and to explain the Word of God. I will pray for them. I will bring them to mass. I can do this with friends too. On Sunday, the priest revealed something interesting. "Did you know that 50% of the people that you ask to attend mass with you will say yes? So what's stopping you from asking?" Well. What is stopping me from asking? I am to love the common man and that love needs to include God who is love Himself.
When it comes to romantic love between a man and a woman, love is good and pure. Have you ever watched a movie and two people supposedly fall in love and you're just sitting there analyzing everything you just saw and wondering what, just WHAT, made them fall in love with each other? Like they were just making out all the time and then, of course, the premarital sex WHICH WE ALL KNOW IS THE ONLY WAY APPARENTLY TO SHOW YOU LOVE A PERSON (am I heavy enough on the sarcasm?) and then the movie ends and you're just like, "I doubt they ever get married. My bet is on it ending in a few months."
That's lust. That's not love. Love isn't always going to be this crazy passionate love like it seems in movies. The honeymoon period will end. Love is still loving and caring for that person when the relationship isn't as new and shiny as it used to be anymore. Love is sticking by someone's side when they are at his/her worst. Love is doing your absolute hardest to make sure you are both standing in front of God in His Heavenly Kingdom one day. Love is putting your pleasures and desires to the side in favor of more godly pleasures. Love is choosing to care for the soul of your loved one instead of your instant gratification.
One day, I will find a guy who will love me like that and I will love him right back. For now, I need to fully love those who are already in my life. This new beginning might end up being as simple as giving the three boys some fruit and a sandwich tomorrow for lunch and jumping into the pool alongside them. They are my brothers through Christ. Christ is in them. I want the good for them. It's about time I show it.
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