Love
in Gear
There are so many ways to love. It is the biggest and the smallest
emotion. We wrap sweet things and sweet thoughts into it, like
chocolate truffles and kittens in the snow. We drape it
over what gives life meaning and purpose, like freedom and family.
Romance looks like love.
Sometimes, it is. Sometimes, it isn’t.
Most of the time, love looks like work. It looks like getting
up every day, driving hundreds of miles and coming home, weary in
body and spirit. It looks like baking cookies at midnight and making
sandwiches at six AM. It looks like going to meetings in the
rain, showing up on Saturdays, making do and doing without.
Great things have been done in the name of love. Terrible things,
too. But the things we do with love, as love, from love, aren’t
generally great or terrible. They are just everything in life
that matters.
Like the father who went to six stores to find Tickle Me Elmo or
the mother who mends her daughter’s favorite jeans for the third
time. Like the clerk who stays late to find a critical file
or the saleswoman who meets her delivery promises. Like the reporter
who checks her facts and the nurse who does more than take vital signs.
What powers the act is love, love for someone -or something- more
important than themselves.
Perhaps a dozen roses say, “I love you”. But, twelve
hours volunteering – delivering flowers at a hospital, painting
walls at the teen club, hanging pictures at the Art Center, planting
tulips at the church, picking up litter by the highway, shelving books
at the library, bottle feeding a litter of abandoned kittens- is love
in gear. Saying it with flowers and saying it with time and
effort are vastly different. Talk is cheap. Roses cost a little
more, but love in action is precious.
The sweetheart who promises a thousand kisses is a fantasy, but the
one who promises a thousand trips to the grocery store is a keeper.
Sweet whispers are charming, but love speaks in a strong, clear voice:
“I’ll take the trash.” “I did the laundry.”
“I bought life insurance so you and the kids would be taken
care of if anything happens to me.” Hollywood never shows
swashbuckling heroes making egg salad sandwiches for the Woman’s
Club, but nothing says real love like a man chopping onions.
People who love their work shift love into high gear. They
don’t bring honor just to themselves and their employer. When
they perform their job the way it’s supposed to be done, with
honesty, enthusiasm, courtesy and skill, it makes everyone feel special.
People who love their work include their love in every task and they
pass it right along to everyone they touch.
With too much time in front of the TV, at the computer or behind
the wheel, it’s easy to feel detached - unloved and unlovable.
But, take a second look. Love isn’t served on a doily and it
rarely arrives in formal attire. It’s more likely to come
in jeans and a faded T-shirt. It’s parents who leave work
early to take their kids for trick or treat – and parents who
can’t, because college is going to be expensive. It’s
mothers who fret over their daughter’s love life, even after
they’re both members of AARP. It’s daughters who
cherish a ruffled gown or a chipped mixing bowl just because it belonged
to their mother. It’s in sisters and friends who
call just to share a moment -or a sale. We should take what
we have, remember and be glad.
As always, it’s a two way street. There are lots of ways
to love. Rev up.
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