Love --- Defined.

   Love is an interesting thing.  It's so 'magical' that most people prefer
not to define it.  Having someone so close to you that your very heart beats
with theirs is an experience far beyond my ability to describe.  Yet.. is it
smart not to define the most powerful force at our disposal?  Is it truly
worth it to let love remain ambiguous?
   I say nay.  Letting love become an ambiguous concept.. which is what this
world has done.. has torn apart many a heart... and destroyed many a bond of
true devotion to what is true.. what is noble.. and what is just.  True love
is something we should all be able to define.. for without a definition for
something so integral to our existence, cheap immitations pop up that claim to
be love, but which only masquerade.  They lead us down paths of extreme
pleasure.. that lasts but for a few moments.. yet fizzles and departs..
leaving us aching for more.. yet hollowing us out even further than when we
first ached for it.
   Why is it that mankind has seen it necessary to forget love?  To redefine
love?  To fake love, and call it love?  Why is it that corner drugstores sell
love, and do not provide any substance?  Why is it that the dreams that fill
our TV sets and movie screens speak of love, yet this love wanes more quickly
than a candle tossed into an inferno?
   Our hearts know we need it.  Our lives crave it.  Our bodies long for it.
Our spirits fly with it.  Our souls die without it.  So.. where is it?  Where
is the love so many speak of?  Where is the love so many cry out and say,
"Here it is!  Here it is!" about?
   The answer is shocking.. but simple.  The truth is painfully obvious.. but
profound.  The reason is eons old.. but still as true today as when it first
was birthed in our universe.
   Where is love?
   Where is it?
   Where?

   It's in the heart of anyone who acknowledges his need, instead of hating
his humility.  It's in the mouth of anyone who apologizes, rather than holds
onto bitter anger.  It's in the eye of anyone who reaches out, rather than
reaches for.  It is not selfishness.. not evil.. not boastful.  It is all
good.. all pure.. all right.  It holds the world in place, and spins it on its
axis.  It keeps the universe in balance, and brings cataclism upon those who
destroy it.  It is love.  It cannot be stopped.  It can only be denied.  It is
love.. it cannot be contained.. it can only be refused.  It is love... It
cannot be destroyed.. it can only be.

   It's in the hands that bled.. so that we could know it.
   It's in the heart that was broken.. so that we could find healing.
   It's in the feet that were pierced.. so that we could find wholeness.

   A Crown of thorns.. is all that this world can give.. to the person who
loves without bounds.  A heart of pain.. is all this world can promise.. to
the heart that gives without compunction.  A wounded walk.. is all that this
world can give.. to the feet that traverse its lands.. looking only to bring
others home.

   Did we deserve to die?
   Do you?
   Did He?

   Should we die, so that even one could live?
   Should you?
   Didn't He?

   Does anyone really want the truth?
   Do you?