Love
Love is never really love if it is not expressed. If love is not expressed, it may still be love, but it cannot be experienced. If love is not experienced, then it is only a concept. If it is only a concept, then who gives a flying ...?, but I digress.
The cartoon a few years ago says it all. A middle-aged husband and wife are sitting one morning at the kitchen table. The man is behind the newspaper reading the sports section. The woman is across the table, eating alone, and says, "You never tell me you love me." He responds, "Yes, I do. I told you 'I love you' the day we were married. If I ever change my mind, I'll let you know."
So obviously sad. If we don't tell our loved ones on a regular basis that we love them, they may know we love them, but what good is that kind of love? It amounts to little to know that you are loved, but have no experience of it. We are more than cerebral beings. We are also responsive, tactile, emotional, sensing beings. To say you love someone is only the very first step in exploring the possibility of love between people. When loving words are reciprocal a foundation is begun, but only a foundation. Without actions to follow, such primitive love is no better than a book on a shelf unread, a seed in the ground with no nurturing, a house with no residents.
Children can never be told they are loved too much. Certainly, they can be spoiled, but that is not love. Love involves caring, commitment, patience, forgiveness and so much more. Adults can never be loved too much. True love comes in remarkable, replenishable proportions and is capable of transforming any recipient from worthlessness to an awareness of supreme worth.
To be loved and to experience love is the essence of life. To never know love is to exist in a life-less form. To love another person, as sung in Les Miserables, is to see the face of God.
Love, love, love, that's what it's all about.... All you need is love.... What the world needs now, is love, sweet love.... What's love got to do with it? Everything. How futile to truly love a person, but never express it. Of course, love is not always returned, but that's a topic for another post. Nevertheless, rejected love is tragic, but unexpressed love is inexcusable. If you love someone, say it, show it, mean it, and leave no ambiguity. To do less is merely a pathetic display of selfishness, the impotent emotion of a preoccupied ego. Okay, okay, maybe that's a little strong.
Maybe not.
The cartoon a few years ago says it all. A middle-aged husband and wife are sitting one morning at the kitchen table. The man is behind the newspaper reading the sports section. The woman is across the table, eating alone, and says, "You never tell me you love me." He responds, "Yes, I do. I told you 'I love you' the day we were married. If I ever change my mind, I'll let you know."
So obviously sad. If we don't tell our loved ones on a regular basis that we love them, they may know we love them, but what good is that kind of love? It amounts to little to know that you are loved, but have no experience of it. We are more than cerebral beings. We are also responsive, tactile, emotional, sensing beings. To say you love someone is only the very first step in exploring the possibility of love between people. When loving words are reciprocal a foundation is begun, but only a foundation. Without actions to follow, such primitive love is no better than a book on a shelf unread, a seed in the ground with no nurturing, a house with no residents.
Children can never be told they are loved too much. Certainly, they can be spoiled, but that is not love. Love involves caring, commitment, patience, forgiveness and so much more. Adults can never be loved too much. True love comes in remarkable, replenishable proportions and is capable of transforming any recipient from worthlessness to an awareness of supreme worth.
To be loved and to experience love is the essence of life. To never know love is to exist in a life-less form. To love another person, as sung in Les Miserables, is to see the face of God.
Love, love, love, that's what it's all about.... All you need is love.... What the world needs now, is love, sweet love.... What's love got to do with it? Everything. How futile to truly love a person, but never express it. Of course, love is not always returned, but that's a topic for another post. Nevertheless, rejected love is tragic, but unexpressed love is inexcusable. If you love someone, say it, show it, mean it, and leave no ambiguity. To do less is merely a pathetic display of selfishness, the impotent emotion of a preoccupied ego. Okay, okay, maybe that's a little strong.
Maybe not.
posted by Joe Marek | 2:24 PM
3 Comments:
I teach math to a group of mentally ill boys. They come from a varied background. They don't work well for any teacher. My classroom is a short term solution to a long problem. On any given day I see crying, fighting, swearing, wadding up of assignments and storming out of the room. I have tried a variety of systems to get them to be productive and use their time well - on math. I offer stickers, candy, toys, check marks, demerits, merits, and other nonsense.
The only thing that consistently works, is to quietly walk up to them individually and tell them I like them. They work. They smile. They have a brief moment of sanity in a world that to them only offers chaos.
It should probably work with my other students and teammates too.
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Thank you, Wendy, for a wonderful application. We all should have such a creative, caring teacher in our lives, regardless of age.
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