Traveler's Tip #329
Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier. -Mother Teresa
On Love -
There is no remedy for love but to love more.
-Henry David Thoreau
A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
-Jesus Christ
There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love.
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
Faith makes all things possible... love makes all things easy.
-Dwight L. Moody
Love thinks no evil.
-Apostle Paul
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.
-Jesus Christ
Love hurts.
-Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
On Duct tape-
One of the things I ask God most often is that I can hear His voice more clearly. Not what I think is His voice, or what I think He might say if I did hear Him, but to really hear His voice and heart and will.
I’ve found this to be a dangerous prayer. Because like any good prayer, it leads places.
Oswald Chambers talked about being so close to the heart of God that His will and our will become one. A great man, a good man, I tip my hat to him.
I’m not Oswald - I’m the duct tape guy. One long strip, wrapped over every inch of my body.
Jesus asks, “You want to hear me? You want to know me?”
I say yes, although the tape over my face muffles the word.
“Okay, then,” He says. “Let’s get you out of the way.”
And so it begins. The tearing, the pulling. It hurts, sure, but that’s what love does sometimes. Little bits of me come free with every tug of the tape. Sometimes he pulls a long strip at once. I shout and complain. He smiles.
When it’s done I stand, cold and raw, stripped of all the useless baubles I’ve collected along the trail. They seemed important at the time. They’re nothing now—bits of unrecognizable chaff and dust stuck in a big wad of used tape. And He loves me. Enough to not let anything come between us, even me. I want to be like Him, but to do that I need to know Him. I need to understand His character—who He was, who He is.
Side by side through this life and into the next—tape free—here’s what I find: He’s infinitely patient. He’s kind (often when we least deserve it). He’s humble. He sees and hopes for the best in us. He’s quiet. He’s strong. The lost and broken come to Him and find a home. Children flock to Him, love Him, laugh with Him.
He’s the tugger of tape—the remover of self. He has a soft spot for me. He has a soft spot for you.
I pray that I can hear His voice. The answer is yes.
Yeah, Joan Jett, you’re right—love hurts.
But love is good…
Fair winds,
Buck