Love

I had an emotional day today. Not emotional as in I sat around and cried all day. And not emotional as in I wore skinny jeans and black eyeliner and moped around listening to Fallout Boy. Emotional as in I ran the gauntlet of emotional ups and downs and I am freaking exhausted. Well, maybe they weren’t ups and downs so much as backs and forths, but whatever. Guilt. Relief. Love. Joy. Indulgence. Pride. More pride. Happiness. Sadness. A smidge of anger. Longing. Loneliness. Camaraderie. Annoyance. You name it, I probably felt it today.

It occurred to me that this list of emotions is actually pretty short for one day, unless, of course, you’re Ron Weasley. But because I am neither redheaded nor a fictional character, it seems that this list, while comprehensive, is probably pretty typical for a normal day. For some reason, this list of emotions sent my mind to 1 Corinthians 13:13, specifically this: the greatest of these is love.

While I absolutely agree that love is the greatest of these, I had to wonder which is the strongest of these. Love will make you do some crazy things. Love will make you feel emotions you never even knew you had and will amplify other emotions tenfold. Love will take your breath away. But anger? Wow. Anger will make you do some crazy, fanatical, extreme things. And if you aren’t angry enough to actually do the things that are running through your mind, the fact that they’re running through your mind says a lot on its own. But then I came full-circle. I realized that the things that could make me think and do the crazy, fanatical, extreme things in anger were caused by love. Stick with me for a minute here.

I have a friend who has a friend who has a brother who has a baby. With me? Good. Well, something bad happened to that baby. I won’t go into detail because it’s not my story to share. The baby is going to be ok for those of you who are concerned. But I digress. The baby was hurt. Intentionally. Of course, when I heard this, I thought of my baby and how I would react if my baby were hurt intentionally. Words cannot describe the range of emotions that washed over me just when thinking about my baby being hurt. Extreme and fanatical come close. That’s what made me question the strongest of these. Of course, if it weren’t for the love I feel for my child, the anger would not exist. So here we are again – the greatest, and strongest, of these is love.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

I used to think these words were trite. Sadly, they only seem that way because at least 76 weddings per day pronounce these words before pronouncing man and wife. Love is all of these things and then some. It’s maddening and comforting. It’s fulfilling and fun. It’s glue and it’s a foundation. A foundation for families, for friendships, and for crazy, fanatical, extreme things. John was right – all you need is love. Once love takes its place in your life, the rest just falls into place.