The love for equals is a human thing — of a friend for a friend, a brother for a brother or a sister for a sister. It is to love what is loving and lovely. The world smiles when it sees this.
The love for the less fortunate is a beautiful thing — the love for those who suffer, for those who are poor, for the sick, for the failures in life, for the unlovely. This is compassion, and it touches the heart of the world.
The love for the more fortunate is a rare thing — to love those who succeed where we fail, to rejoice without envy with those who rejoice, the love of the poor person for the rich person, or the love of a person of color for a white person. The world is always bewildered by its saints.
And then there is the love for the enemy — love for the one who does not love you but mocks you, threatens you, and inflicts pain and even death on you. It is the tortured person’s love for the torturer. This is Jesus’ love. “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” This is the love that conquers the world.
Based on the words of Frederick Buechner. Thanks to Pablo Heimplatz for the photo.
Which of these four loves inspires YOU? Which of these four loves troubles YOU? Why?
JESUS WAS GOD SPELLING HIMSELF OUT IN LANGUAGE HUMANITY COULD UNDERSTAND!!
