Love is in the air

1st Corinthians 13:7

"Love bears all things." 

We will not always look like we are dressed for a ball. Nope. And that sometimes drives me crazy. I wish everything was roses, all the time. But that would not be love.

Love believes the best about other people. As I was sitting in Starbucks in North Raleigh, I looked up and noticed an elderly couple. I noticed a pair of hands opening a very small box. And then I looked up at her time worn face. She opened the small box with such caution, delight, and wonder.  Her eyes were ready, and it seemed as if her heart was about to burst. I felt a bit sheepish watching. But I couldn't help but notice them. I couldn't help but place myself in the scene. The hands, the delicate looks, the feelings, the box, and the coffee. It was all just so perfect. It was LOVE. And then it happened. She opened the box. And the sprinkler system from time immemorial started going off. And I was right there with her. There was something in that.

But it was not a heaving cry, a cry of pain. It was a still small voice. It was a soft cry. The years of their marriage had worn her down perhaps, I don't know, but in this moment there was something ultimately good streaming from her. And then I looked further. Her husband was also crying. Wow. What in the world? Why did God grant me this moment? What was He saying to me? 

God is so real. These moments, and many others, like the sunset, they exist. I often go around running through my head, that I forget to put my feet on the ground. God makes us in His image, and if that is the case, God sure is on display in these tears.

God sees us, when we are elderly, as our husband does. We are not wrinkled. We are beautiful. When we were young, we may have been far off. And I was. But though we were once "far off," those of us that call on Jesus to save us, have been brought near into His family. And as husbands and wives, friends and lovers, we are invited to love like the God who was charitable towards us. This gentleman reminded me of this charity today. As I looked up one final time, I noticed a pill container. I noticed his hand. It was trembling. His age had caught up with him. I fear this reality. And it was as if the whole time I watched this scene unfold, this kind man was  showing me myself. I could see the good. I could see the fragile. And I could see the years of care. and I could see how God had ultimately brought him to a place where he could truly delight in giving a gift to his spouse. And that gift made her happy. And we make God happy, especially in our fragile dependence.