Love Loves

1 Corinthians 13:13

“And the greatest of these is love…”

I sat and listened recently, along with a crowd of others, as a bride and groom repeated those familiar words – “To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part.” 

Love loves whether things are good or bad, whether life is better or worse, if you’re rich or poor, sick or well…  Love loves when there’s no reason to love.  Love loves when there’s nothing in it for you.  Love loves when it has every reason not to. 

Love loves whether you’re walking on the beach with your new husband, or saving his face in his mid-seventies because his memory has been erased by Alzheimer’s.  Love loves whether you’re carrying your new bride over the threshold, or carrying her from the wheelchair to the bed because arthritis has robbed her of the ability to walk.  Love loves when she has a head full of hair…and when it’s all gone because of chemo.  Love loves when he’s strong and athletic…and when he can’t lift a finger because of ALS.  Love doesn’t love because…love just loves.

My dad said he stopped at talked to Mother this week.  She is buried near his home.  He goes to see her several times every week.  I asked him what he said to her…  He said, “I told her I love her and that I miss her every day and that she’s the only girlfriend I ever had.”  Love loves.