Love is a teacher

Her name is Angela. And she has the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen. I passed her on my way out of Target last week, and if I had been a little more with it (meaning not coming off of an overnight shift) I would have thought to ask her to go eat breakfast with me, rather than offering her the small amount of change in my wallet. I asked her what her name is and I reached out my hand, she looked at me with surprise and timidly extended her scarred hand towards mine. It looked as though she had been badly burnt. I thought about her again today as I ran into Target...I wanted to see her again, since my mind was a little bit clearer. I wanted to sit down with her and ask her what her story was. But she wasn't in her spot outside the door. Maybe (hopefully) someone else was treating her to breakfast.

I wonder what it would be like to not be seen. To stand day after day in the same spot and have people walk by in a hurry, pretending to be engrossed in the sidewalk or the sky...to be denied the basic right to exist to others. Isn't it sad that it is hardly even normal to make contact with strangers?

Though I've been making my way through the Old Testament history and proverbs books currently, yesterday I flipped through Isaiah--which is, by far, my favorite book of all time. I especially love the chapters in the 50's--specifically 55 and 58. It is here in beautiful poetry that Isaiah lavishes us with God's love for His people and for the poor. And it is in this chapter where answers are given. Where God proclaims that He will come to His people if they humble themselves and begin to provide for the poor. It is here where the trees of the fields will clap their hands as you go out with joy and are lead forth in peace. Where He comforts His people by providing them with spiritual food and His people care for each other by providing each other with physical food. Here is here, in Isaiah 55 and 58, where I believe God lays out His perfect plan for this world that He created.

As always, I've been thinking about love, and how I want to love people all the time. All people. I want to love the random person who walks down the street with their iPod, too involved in their own world to look up. I want to love the people it's more natural for me to love (but not easy, those should not get confused), like my family and friends, and the poor and down-hearted. I want to love people better...and always. It is my prayer that I would love better....that we all would love better. I want to see a time when true fasting that sets the oppressed free, shares food, clothes the naked and cares for others before outselves comes.

And while love is hard to acheive and it is won by long labor, I pray that we would be working towards it. Will you join me?

...love is a teacher; but one must know how to acquire it,
for it is hard to acquire, it is dearly bought,
it is won slowly by long labor.
For we must love not only occasionally,
for a moment, but forever.
Everyone can love occasionally, even the wicked can.
-Dostoyevsky