Love is...

See that picture frame?
It's actually a fish tank mounted in the master closet.
Are you asking why? So are we.

Growing up, my parents hung a felt banner in our living room that said “Love Is A Decision.” As I recall, they (and by “they” I mean, probably, my mom with my dad sitting nearby) made it at a marriage retreat they attended long before I was born. As the third child, there were many things that occurred long before I was born, but I digress.

When I hear “Love is...” I think of Kim Casali’s comic strip by the same name. The simplicity of her drawings and her ability to capture every day moments has allowed her work to remain popular over the years. According to her website, these started "back in the late 1960s when she drew the little pictures as love notes for her husband-to-be."  If you are unfamiliar, you can see a collection of her drawings on the website, loveiscomix.com.

Indeed, love is a decision.

That seems to be the heart of this verse, in one of the most famous passages on love ever written. When we think of 1 Corinthians 13, most think of the author's description of what love is, but consider these often glossed over verses:

If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

(1 Corinthians 13:2-3, NIV)

In many ways, we can't help what gifts and talents we have.  The pianist cannot create what the sculptor can, but both can love. The prince and the pauper have the same ability to love, though they may not have the same access to any other thing in life. I love the way The Message paraphrases the above verse, "So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love." Love may be the only thing that we can always control.  We can always choose to act lovingly. A genuine act of love is never wrong.

So how about you? If you were going to draw a "Love Is..." style comic strip, what would it show? In mine, you would see a couple eating burritos in bed because:

Thanks to my husband for showing me this act of love this week. No shame here; I love breakfast burritos!

Read my other posts on LOVE.