“The faithful lover never gives up on
us.”
This faithful
lover never gives up on us.
However long
we live,
We could
never wish for a better friend than God,
Who even in
this life
Grants us a
far greater peace
Than we are
able to desire.
Teresa of
Avila
I was
driving the other day and heard John Legend’s “All of Me” on the radio. It is one of the best love songs I’ve heard
in a long time. The chorus is:
“'Cause all
of me, Loves all of you
Love your curves and all your edges, All your
perfect imperfections
Give your all to me, I'll give my all to you
You're my end and my beginning, Even when I
lose I'm winning
'Cause I give you all of me
And you give me all of you, oh”
All your “PERFECT IMPERFECTIONS”…what a great
line! And that IS love!
I started thinking
about my husband and the fact that we have been married now for nearly 11
years. 11 years may not seem that long
to some, but for me, it seems rather unbelievable! I picked up the phone and called him and
said, “you know we have been married for 11 years? I am glad it is you. You are worth it.” He knew just what I meant. It hasn’t always been easy. There have been times I have wanted to pack
my s#$% and run. There have been times I
wanted to pack his s#$% and put it on the porch! In the end, though, I always come back to the
fact that he is worth it. Our family and
what we have built is worth it. And, the
truth is, I am worth it. Each
argument or challenging circumstance has been an opportunity for me to grow.
Marianne
Williamson says that every relationship is a maximum growing opportunity, an
opportunity for you to grow deeper spiritually and essentially closer to
God. I have noticed over the last
several years how my shortcomings and struggles I have with my husband often
mirror the challenges I have in my own spiritual life. (this proves that most of the issues we have
or had can point back to me…if my husband reads this, I may lose any standing
for any future argument). In all
seriousness, this is the truth. Not that he is free from saying something
hurtful, or doing something dumb, but really, my reaction to it is where real
growing possibilities reveal themselves.
And truly, in the end, our relationship grows stronger and our bond that
much greater.
Not one of
us is perfect. If we enter into
relationships, any relationship, with an idea that the other is perfect, not
only will we be horribly disappointed, but we will miss our opportunity to grow.
We can walk away from a relationship (some, it might be healthiest to do so),
and just say that person has issues, etc. etc., or ask ourselves why
this relationship seems difficult for us.
Perhaps asking ourselves how we contribute to the problem or the tension
is how we grow, or ask how we can better serve the other person to help them
recognize their own divinity.
I firmly
believe that our personal relationships mirror our relationship with God. When we hold people high in their God-given
beauty, thankful for them and exercise our ability to love them fully,
perfectly in their imperfection, we grow closer to God and are living in the
truth and ways taught by Jesus. God, the
faithful lover, never gives up on us.
Let us not be so quick to give up on each other.
