I like to eat little pieces of chocolate after dinner, or sometimes just because. It works as a dessert without overeating, or as an indulgence without going overboard. I like to buy bags of the little Dove dark chocolates and keep them in my refrigerator. I often grab a couple pieces and enjoy them with a glass of red wine for dessert. Or just when I need a chocolate fix. The great thing about Dove chocolates is that they have little sayings on the inside of the foil. They usually say things like "Sing along with the elevator music" or "Smile before bed. You'll sleep better." These sayings usually make me smile, which is one more reason for eating them. This week I was sitting on my bed with my friend Nina eating Dove dark chocolates and drinking red wine when the words on the foil struck me like an arrow between the eyes.
It said, "Dare to love completely."
Nina said, "I think you do that Mel."
[Mel blushes]
But, I have had to ask myself, "Do I?" I'm not sure. What does it really mean to love completely? So this challenge from the inside of a piece of chocolate has been stirring me a bit this weekend. Toby's sermon today spoke to this question and I'm still chewing on what he said. So this post is a prologue to what I hope will soon be a coherent batch of thoughts on this great subject: Love.
Do I dare to love completely? hmmmm.....
Stay tuned. More to come.
(Photo: Dove Chocolate Wrapper by Kimblahg)
5 comments:
Interesting post. I found your blog through looking at other bloggers who posted the Bible as one of their favorite books.
I watched Enchanted Friday and I was struck with the fantastical side of love. Before my first heart brake I was much like Giselle: very idealistic about the way things should be in a relationship. Now that I have been broken and experienced more of adult relational life, I find myself in a hesitating mode. I'm more leery about really letting my emotions go to someone else. I was determined not to become calloused, but alas it has happened and like you I wonder if I love completely.
But all things are possible through Christ, and we can receive the necessary healing in our hearts that will allow us to love completely. It's only through Christ that we can love like that anyway. He's the source of love and as long as we keep plugged into him we will have a never ending supply to share.
My name is Shane. Looking forward to further posts on the topic from you.
Shane
Thanks for stopping by. Good to meet other bloggers. I haven't seen Enchanted yet, but it is definitely on my list!
While writing from Rome in the late Spring, a wise old poet once said...
It is also good to love: because love is difficult. For one human being to love another human being: that is perhaps the most difficult task that has been entrusted to us, the ultimate task, the final test and proof, the work for which all other work is merely preparation. That is why young people, who are beginners in everything, are not yet capable of love: it is something they must learn. With their whole being, with all their forces, gathered around their solitary, anxious, upward-beating heart, they must learn to love.
-Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet, Letter 7. (May 14, 1904)
Jenelly,
I love you so dearly. You have no idea how much your simple arrow to truth has touched my heart tonight. I am struggling to love certain people in my life right now. Its hard. It hurts. But, somehow, I think its still good to struggle through it. I will blog more about it soon. Thank you.
I think I will call you soon. Expect a surprise phone ring from SC. I just hope you aren't on your bike. :)
Melissa,
I suppose we're all just redirecting the arrows to others, after they've hit us square in the heart. Look forward to finding you.
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