2007

As I was driving through Huntington Drive to church yesterday, the speaker from radio prompted a question with the "genie" story - what is it that you want the most if you're granted three wishes?

I mused. By the time I approached Broadway Street and College Street, the word "Love" appeared so embarassingly big in my mind that felt a little strange.

Love
Yes, love. I want to experience love in depth and in breadth, in 2007. There's no guarantee in receiving love, whereas there is some certainty in giving love. But then how do I give if my pool runs dry? (By now, I already parked my car, sitting comfortably & admiring the Christmas banners of "hope," "joy," "peace," and "love" that decorate the wall in the new sanctuary from the upper level.) God brings us the wonderful gifts of hope, joy, peace, and love through Jesus. Yet, the Bible clearly privileges "love" above the other gifts, as it says "God is love," not "God is peace," even though Jesus, the Prince of Peace, brings peace to man. God IS Love. He doesn't only love us, but He Himself is Love. He is the source.

Categories of Love
C.S. Lewis writes about 4 kinds of human love - affection as between parents and children; friendship - the love of men for other men and women for women; erotic love - the love of men and women for each other; and the love of God - the love of God that enriches all love. It probably has something to do with my Chinese heritage that I think of love in terms of these relationships -- to my seniors (長輩), to my peers (平輩), and to my juniors (晚輩) -- with which I want to experience & practice love. (Interestingly & thankfully, I have been given more opportunities to interact with the younger generations at church, at school, and in my private-teaching environment in 2006.)

Purpose-driven Life
After I graduated, I pretty much felt that the goal has been accomplished. Getting the degree, for me, isn't a stepping stone to something else. It is the something else. I don't feel like pursuing anything -- a big house, or to be filthy rich. I can quit right now except that I need food and a place to live. But what's the purpose of living? New year resolution should be aligned to one's life goal. What's important in life? Relationships & Love, I believe.

Does every man /woman crave for some kind of Love? Doesn't seem that way. Either it's not true or s/he must be hiding it really well.

It's not without reason that the greatest commandment is to love -- "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength ... Love your neighbor as yourself." Rather than to view it as a commandment, I see it as the key to lead an abundant life.

Side Notes
One of my longtime favorite hymns is Ralph Carmichael's "I Looked For Love" (click here to listen to the tune*). Not many people know this hymn, but Carmichael's name shouldn't be unfamiliar because of his other work "He's Everything to Me."

I looked for love in the red rose so small,
I looked for love in the green tree so tall;
But the red rose had its thorns,
and the green tree was a cross,
and my searching for love was a total loss.

I looked for love in a friendly face so true,
I looked for love in a creed I once knew;
Well, my friend just called me friend,
and he said, "I'm searching too,"
and the creed only told me what I couldn't do.

Then one day I heard the story of love like I'd never known.
How God gave His Son to save me and wanted me for His own. His own, His very own.
And now I know what it means to belong,
not lost in a crowd,
swept along by the throng.
But to Him who gave His life,
Every longing to fulfill,
And I know that He loves me and He always will.

I feel that there should be a third verse which begins with "I looked for love in a fellowship setting ... (and got disappointed too)." Even Christian community may fail you. After all, we're just human. Well, Ralph Carmichael did it in the third verse of his other hymn, "Love is Surrender."

Shout about love and the wars will all end.
You can shout we're all brothers and even pretend.
But you can't cover up the past, just pretending'll never last.

Without Him love is not to be found; not to be found.
For Love is surrender,
Love is surrender to His will.
Love is surrender to His will.

New Year Resolution
Talk is cheap. Forget what I wrote. Do it. Please help me practice Love by not making it incredibly difficult.

*I re-recorded it to get rid of the static & to play with a slower tempo. You need a multiply account to get in. Once you get to the page, scroll down and select "I looked for love.")