"Love is a harsh and dreadful beauty." - Dostoevski
We hear the word "love" used in so many ways. Perhaps we should concentrate on what Jesus meant when He said, "Love God with your whole ear, mind, soul, and strength. And your neighbor as yourself." If we use this as a guide for our lives, we will experience what it means to be alive, happy, and living out our discipleship. If we love God first, the rest of our lives will fall into place. Loving God means being aware of God's presence in our lives every day, every minute, no matter where we are or what we're doing.
To love our neighbor as ourselves does not mean to love ourselves less. If we love and accept our selves with all our goodness and our weaknesses, we can accept others with their goodness and weaknesses. Part of love is also to gently correct ourselves and the ones we love, if necessary. To love others does not mean we necessarily agree with them.
Fr. Michael Crosby, an instructor at St. Bernard's taught us that the bottom line of Christian love is not to wish another harm. The following story is an example of a special kind of love: A War-loving chief demanded that his gentle and wiser son prove his worthiness to assume leadership of the clan. The youth was challenged to bring proof that he had killed three enemies. Several days later, the son returned with three smiling members of a rival clan. "You were ordered to kill three enemies!" the Chief thundered. "I did," the son replied. "I made them our friends."
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