a splendid thing

i've long searched for a definition of love that satisfies me and i finally found it last night while reading man's search for meaning.  viktor e. fankl defines it so beautifully, i won't even try to paraphrase.

"a thought transfixed me: for the first time in my life I saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets, proclaimed as the final wisdom by so many thinkers.  the truth--that love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire.  then i grasped the meaning for the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: the salvation of man is through love and in love.  i understood how a man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss...my mind still clung to the image of my wife. a thought crossed my mind: i didn't even know if she was still alive. i knew only one thing--which i have learned well by now: love goes far beyond the physical person of the beloved.  it finds its deepest meaning in the spiritual being, his inner self."

how absolutely incredible?  my dear friend danielle and i were talking about this the other night.

  i remember one of the happiest moments of my life was the day i witnessed a women preach the truth that Christ had risen.  i was riding on a dirty metro in kiev, ukraine and found myself in awe at her courage and faith.  ukraine was such an empty place to be, so full of mistrust, hate, and regret, yet this women found happiness, as do i, in the knowledge that Christ has risen.

"the salvation of man is through love and in love."

we are saved through Christ's love. 

and we are directed to love as he loved.  

cut the crap (as danielle would say).

accept people and their differences and just love. 

truly, love. 

look past the faults, the imperfections and love.

how perfect would our world be if we could do just that?

"God has given us many gifts, much diversity, and many differences, but the essential thing is what we know about each other--that we are all his children. Our challenge as members of the Church is for all of us to learn from each other, that we may all love each other and grow together."

Cheiko M. Okazaki