What is the meaning of life? How many times have I heard that? I figured it out. It's love. The meaning of life is to pour yourself out with love until you're empty and then letting God fill you back up again. How many of us have found an incredible joy that comes with giving of ourselves? That joy that far surpasses getting the new shoes or even the new car. Ya, that's great, new shoes are AWESOME, but the joy only lasts as far as it takes to get them from the store to my house. My floor is scattered with shoes that I saw and said, "I gotta have them." I've been known to go back home from a shopping trip and go back out to town just to get those shoes. And then, there they lay like a big pile of leather and dust. The joy doesn't last and it's certainly meaningless for the brief time that it exists.
But love, now that's a different story altogether. My landlord came up to dig up some seedlings from my yard the other day and even though she's a complete..uh um (clears her throat)..thorn in my side, pain in my "bekind," bur under my saddle, I still get immense joy from helping her carry her tools and helping her do her little deeds. She locked her keys in the trunk and I had to get them out for her. What a complete joy it was to help her. When she left, I was left with that residual joy and love. It's a joy that's with me now as I think back on it. However, if I were to get up and walk into my room and gaze upon those many shoes that I just had to have, I'd feel nothing except the need to arrange them neatly so I don't trip over them.
The meaning of life is love. This is what we're here for. To do whatever it takes to be there for others and show them whatever love they need. To comfort, hug, praise, or encourage. Whatever someone needs. And it can't be done with resentment. If you begrudge the deed you're doing then it's a blemished sacrifice unto the Lord.
I love giving of myself. I also know the difference (through my powers of discernment) between someone who truly needs me and someone seeking to get what they can from a kind person. In that case, I have enough love not play into their game, thereby enabling them. I have enough love not to help them fail at another opportunity to do right for themselves.
I don't let people disgrace or dishonor the love God has placed in my heart. I don't wield it like an ungainly sword, thrashing about hoping to hit anything in my path with a God smack. No, I discern the spirits in men/women. I be attainable, accessible. I'm an "if you need me, I'm here" kind of gal. And I mean it. I don't tell my family or friends to reach out to me so I can say, "let me call you later." I'm the one who turns the t.v. set off and gets somewhere quiet so I can pay close attention. The idea is to make someone know they're loved and what they're saying matters more than my own life or schedule. There's always someone that will try to abuse that goodness and use you as a dumping ground. For those folks, I give them time to rectify their selfishness and if they don't, I move on to people who truly seek love and kindness in a time of need and then appreciate you for being there.
The meaning of life is love. To love and not necessarily seek to be loved. To give without getting. To show the unlovable that they are loved by at least one person. It's a matter of being like unto the Lord and allowing Him free reign. It's a matter of opening the heart to others and understanding that the world doesn't evolve around me. If we couldn't love, we'd have no life and no meaning.
But love, now that's a different story altogether. My landlord came up to dig up some seedlings from my yard the other day and even though she's a complete..uh um (clears her throat)..thorn in my side, pain in my "bekind," bur under my saddle, I still get immense joy from helping her carry her tools and helping her do her little deeds. She locked her keys in the trunk and I had to get them out for her. What a complete joy it was to help her. When she left, I was left with that residual joy and love. It's a joy that's with me now as I think back on it. However, if I were to get up and walk into my room and gaze upon those many shoes that I just had to have, I'd feel nothing except the need to arrange them neatly so I don't trip over them.
The meaning of life is love. This is what we're here for. To do whatever it takes to be there for others and show them whatever love they need. To comfort, hug, praise, or encourage. Whatever someone needs. And it can't be done with resentment. If you begrudge the deed you're doing then it's a blemished sacrifice unto the Lord.
I love giving of myself. I also know the difference (through my powers of discernment) between someone who truly needs me and someone seeking to get what they can from a kind person. In that case, I have enough love not play into their game, thereby enabling them. I have enough love not to help them fail at another opportunity to do right for themselves.
I don't let people disgrace or dishonor the love God has placed in my heart. I don't wield it like an ungainly sword, thrashing about hoping to hit anything in my path with a God smack. No, I discern the spirits in men/women. I be attainable, accessible. I'm an "if you need me, I'm here" kind of gal. And I mean it. I don't tell my family or friends to reach out to me so I can say, "let me call you later." I'm the one who turns the t.v. set off and gets somewhere quiet so I can pay close attention. The idea is to make someone know they're loved and what they're saying matters more than my own life or schedule. There's always someone that will try to abuse that goodness and use you as a dumping ground. For those folks, I give them time to rectify their selfishness and if they don't, I move on to people who truly seek love and kindness in a time of need and then appreciate you for being there.
The meaning of life is love. To love and not necessarily seek to be loved. To give without getting. To show the unlovable that they are loved by at least one person. It's a matter of being like unto the Lord and allowing Him free reign. It's a matter of opening the heart to others and understanding that the world doesn't evolve around me. If we couldn't love, we'd have no life and no meaning.
i;ve always known that love is the secret of life, it is but GOd's love that we are here in the first place, i'd like to answer your questions, i am not quite why there's this hole in my soul that i can't figure out, maybe it's because i've been alone for too long...waiting for someone to fill it up..or maybe there's more to it that that...i am an observer and i feel what i see, if am seeing misery and pain, i am in msiery too, and if there is joy al laround, than my hear leaps with joy too...i am a sensitive lot...deep, melancholic...loner...i am hungry for wisdom, the secret of the world, the unknown...sometimes I think i am to different...and odd...but ironically, people i noticed are drawn to me, maybe because i love to listen to people's stories and how i emphatize with them...i am an observer..i spend time looking at things and wonder at it's beauty and imperfection...but bottom line is...my soul is lonely because it feels alone...hope i didn't confused you....i am a frustrated model, we'll this one's different, i'd like to see myself on a magazine spread, it's but a fancy dream...i'd like to try to be a model, at least once and then done with it...i have also this things i'd like to "try" at least in my lifetime, so when the time comes when i am just sitting on a balcony overlooking the beach on a quiet afternoon, watching the sunset, drinking my green tea and looking back in my life, i can say, i'd live it to the fullest...but i still hope i'd be given the opportunity...nothing special, nothing fancy..at least once...lols!
ReplyDeleteCarlo, this explanation of why you made those comments so closely matches my own feelings. What jumped out at me the most as pertaining to how we are alike is when you said you're a loner, different, may be too different, odd...yes, I understand that. But what I really think is that the world might have labeled you as odd, but God (and me) sees you more as unique. We're all unique of course inside, but this I feel is the true word for you. Unique is the individual who doesn't conform to the world around you, doesn't behave like the world, or follow the world and it's ideals. I think people are drawn to you for the same reason I am, the genuine true shining light of your soul. Not the pretense that you get with so many people. You seem to bare all and do so with hope and expectation of a positive result. This is wonderful!! You should continue down this path. You believe on God and that's the primary thing (in my mind). Without that faith and belief we're just an empty shell of what we should be. And as far as your dream to be a model, why not? If you truly want that then you should pursue it. You have the look, you have the ambition, you have the style. Find the connections and make it happen for yourself so that you can look back one day and say, "I did it!" And I'll cheer you on the whole way, my friend!!!
ReplyDeletei want to love and be loved...that's my ultimate prayer...of course God loves me, that I feel very much, in every way, every day...i know i should be satisfied...like you...or maybe i could learn that..or accept, maybe this is a calling??..i used to dream of becoming a priest when i was younger...i almost did, but my father had other plans...what could have been if I did become one? I've always been a spiritual person...i've been to different spiritual beliefs...studied other religions, read books about truths and other spiritual explorations...do take note that i never lose my belief in God...i just want to know...i want to understand...maybe through my photos, i will understand, we all now that God works in mysterious ways, in ways we cannot understand but only need to accept them...so who knows really what's His plan for me..i live day by day..i say a prayer every night and immediately when i wake up...and let Him control my day...but i am not perfect...i am a prodigal son...always leaving, but coming back, then leave again...then come back again...and He never closes his door...sometimes I feel so guilty ...but then again...i'd lose myself again...i have my faith...100%....but my spirit is weak...am i talking too much already? i just felt like talking to you...hope you won't mind..
ReplyDeleteOf course I don't mind, Carlo! I invite you. I encourage you. You're never talking too much. I'm here to listen and encourage and be a friend. Not to put limits on your explorations of thought and spirit. If you're more comfortable, you can locate my email on my profile and email me directly. Otherwise, do what makes you feel comfortable. I'm honored to be the person you feel like talking to. I'm surprised that you once aspired to be a priest. That says a lot about you and where your life was heading at one point. I too, wonder where you would be right now if you had gone in that direction. May be this is the direction you're supposed to be going in. If you were a priest right now, would you be blogging? Would you be in Saudi Arabia instead of the Philippines? Would you have the relationships you have if you were a priest? What does that mean for you, the knowledge that you're where you are because your dad had other plans? Do you resent it or embrace it? I have a million questions. I could keep you answering all day...
ReplyDeletei'd be glad to let it all out..
ReplyDeleteWell, let's see what we can do to open a dialog that might span time!!
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ReplyDeletehave you listened to ALanis Morissette's "That I Would Be Good?" please do...and let me know..this song always pulls me through a rough day...and i am so having one today...and i need a hug...
ReplyDeleteI will do that. The comment you deleted came through anyway to my email. Don't worry, everything will be ok!! You're in my prayers in a very real way and God's love will visit you!!
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