The Power of Love

     There are many different forms of love.  I can love my dog, I can love the color purple, or I can love having a new car.  But this is not the kind of love I'm speaking of.  Then, there is romantic love.  You are young, and you fall in love.  You believe that you have the "perfect" mate.  You feel high on life and all is well with the world.  But. let's look at that "romantic" love ten years later.  You are married, or living together and you discover some things you don't like about your "perfect" mate.  He leaves his clothes all over the house, or he's makes messes on the dining room table.   If your mate is a woman, she may nag you to cut the grass, or pick up your clothes.  Where's the "romantic" love?  Reality has set in.  Now, begins the real test of love.  Can I look for my mate's good points?  Does he comfort me when I'm upset?  Does he work hard to earn a living?  Is he kind and compassionate to our children, if we have them.  Now, I have a choice.  I can dwell on all his flaws, and I can find many if I concentrate on them enough.  Or I can choose to look for his good qualities.  I can choose to be grateful and express gratitude to him or her.  I can choose to be kind and to overlook the habits I don't like.
      This is real love to choose to affirm and to be kind to your mate.   And we have that choice every day of our lives.  When we choose to really love our mates, as they are, we find peace, contentment, and serenity in our lives.
     Here is the fact, we are made to love and to love unconditionally.  The Bible states that we are made in God's image.  And God always loves us, no matter what.  And we are told to love your neighbor as yourself.  So, love really means that I look for the good in each person in my life.  But, what if that neighbor has harmed me in some way?  What if that neighbor has gossiped about me behind my back?  What if that neighbor has excluded me from neighborhood activities?  Again I have a choice.  I can get angry and hurt.  That is a normal human reaction.  But, what if I stay angry and resentful?  Then I lose my peace and serenity.  Remember, God built us to express love.  Love is a powerful emotion.  Love brings us closer to God.  And I want to be closer to God.
     There is a wonderful American Indian legend.  A father is teaching his young son.  He says, "Son, we have two wolves inside of us.  One wolf is angry and bares his teeth all the time.  The other wolf is loving, kind, and serene."  The son asks, "Father, which wolf is stronger"?   The father answers, "Son, it depends on which wolf you are feeding."
     So, which wolf are you feeding?  I suggest that you write a list of all the people you resent.  Then burn your list and send it up to your Higher Power.  Let Him take care of the ones you resent.  Your task, on this earth, and my task on this earth, is to be loving and kind as much as possible to each person in my life.  And here's the surprise, I feel better.  I feel peace and serenity.  Our souls want us to love.  Our souls want us to make this a better world.  Yes, we have much anger, and chaos in our world.  But, you can change the world by changing yourself.  You can choose to feed the kind, loving wolf.  We all have the same task, to make this a better world.  And you and I can do that by being kind and loving to every person in our lives today.  Start with today.