“Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand.” ~ Mother Teresa
I think about a Jackie DeShannon song quite often in today’s tempestuous world: “What the world needs now is love, sweet love. It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of.” The real tragedy is that there is plenty of love in the people of this world. It just is not being lived.
We have the power to make or break our world. The words we choose, the actions we decide upon, these can influence others at every moment of the day. Mother Teresa of Calcutta reminded us that love is always in season. She didn’t just remind us, she lived it. She lived love to the nth degree. That is why so many people gathered around her, why so many people entered her religious order, and why so many people admired her.
Mother Teresa never set out with the goal of becoming famous. Far from it, Mother Teresa set out with a very simple goal: to minister to Jesus as she saw him in the suffering and dying. Her love for God was so intense that she was able to see Jesus in all the people she encountered.
This is not something that she made up. Jesus does dwell in all of us. Yet, how many of us see Jesus in others? For that matter, how many of us believe that Jesus dwells in others? We often judge others by what they say and do and forget that Jesus is in that person. Perhaps that person is a struggling soul, weighed down by the burdens of the world. Perhaps that is why the person says or does things. Maybe the person is not weighed down by the world. Maybe the person suffers from mental illness. We often judge by externals without regard for what is truly happening in others.
A good, healthy dose of love will do much to make our world a better place. One of the miracles of love is that it never runs out. As a matter of fact, when we dip into the well of love and give it to others, we get even more within ourselves. The more we give, the deeper in love we grow in the Lord. Love is a fruit in season at all times. Give freely of that love and see what a difference you can make in the world.
It may not be something that changes the entire world; but, love given freely changes the person it touches as well as ourselves. Give it freely and unconditionally. Doing so will please God greatly.
FAITH ACTION: Are there people in your life that you cannot love or refuse to love? Ask God to help you love them today.