nik

from nik's blog, sunday 07 may, here

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actually, whenever i think love, i simply think of Jesus cleaning the feet of His disciples on the night before He died. it drives home the messages of selflessness, servitude, humility, and well, unconditional love. and umm well, i guess unconditional love is a very good definition for love, for the word unconditional speaks volumes of itself. and thats exactly what God had! a perfect love which He gave to all of us, and for us to keep within till the day we return to Him.

to sum it up nicely, i guess all of us are vessels of God's love. just that we are constantly insinuated with nasty temptations to do things for the love of ourselves. perhaps its a human trait passed on from generations? its a survival instinct imbued in us from the very first day we started hunting wild animals. today we craft up conditions to our relationships, attach clauses, demand promises, and so on.

but all in all, love is still an intrinsic feeling. i mean look at how many people around the world prayed and cried together with the families of those who have lost their lives to terrorism and natural disasters. how many people who dont even know shufang pray for her everyday, write in to the papers to encourage her, dedicate songs to her on the airwaves, turn up at her mass, and set up trust funds in her name. and how about steve chia buying buying coffee for his PAP opponent for breakfast yesterday? well call it an act of diplomacy or goodwill political gesture, but i still think it still is a good example of how love is more of something that resides in every single person's heart. i hope yall get my drift.

cynics might think, thats rubbish. all thats just trash. then look, why do couples and marriages break up? in love's defense, i only have this to say. far too often, we give up on relationships because of the increasing demands. as two people gradually get more emotionally involved with each other, their lives just begin to weave into each other's routines far more than often. little suprise why suddenly there are so many more things to be concerned about, which prior to the relationship, would never have been an issue at all. i guess those in a relationship would hardly have any problem identifying them at all. everyone wants to maintain their comfort zone in a way. and unless the couple works it these issues out together, the relationship, i say again, the relationship, is not gonna work. not that love is not gonna work. love endures! just whether its being nurtured or left stagnant. love really is more than a silly thing that occurs every now and then. bringing along with it some anguish and petty issues on the way. we're the ones who make things complicated, not love.

to sum it up, love really is the mustard seed that God planted in everyone of us. but we are the farmers who have to constantly nurture it. and relationships are but the tools given to us, to use as a platform. all this in a hope that one day, the mustard seed will become a strong and sturdy tree, with its branches reaching out to as many people in our lives...

come grow old with me, for the best is yet to be.
-robert browning, 19th century poet

love never ceases, right up till the day we return to ashes. beautiful, isnt it?