To Love and Be Loved

Occasionally people say things that are so very basic, so simple - you may have heard them previously - yet they stick with you as you go through your life.

We were on a lift (skiing) and someone was talking about a relationship that seemed like ... well, it seemed like, given the people in it, it couldn't be "real" or it wasn't a relationship in the way one would traditionally think of a relationship. The volunteer who was with the instructor and me that day said, "everyone deserves to love and be loved."

That seems easy enough. But the instructor clearly was done with love. I think he said he was too old for it. So I thought there must be something... his cat died recently and he absolutely adored that cat. He couldn't express that, but you could feel it. Yet, the cat was gone, and he is not getting another cat. So I came up with it - his Harley. Yup - I think he loves his Harley (I also think, when he can't ride his Harley, he loves his monoski). Untraditional when one thinks of love.

There are many other untraditional people we love (or animals, or motorcycles, or whatever). What bothers me is that with some of these, we tend to judge them. I don't need to name them, because I think people know what they are. What seems to be most accepted is if two people are basically the same, one being a man and the other being a woman, and they are married, live in a house with a white picket fence, have 2 kids, etc. We laugh about the white picket fence, but I think it still exists. And that's ok too, because everyone deserves to love and be loved.

But these other, untraditional, loves - they're ok too. I think everyone does deserve to love and be loved, and I hope I don't judge.

So, very importantly, "The first duty of love is to listen." (Paul Tillich)

And also,

"And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love." - 1 Corinthians 13:13

Happy Valentine's Day.

Peace.