The Greatest of These

"I ask that we love one another.   And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands.  As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love."

                                                                              -2 John 5b-6

This caught my eye as I read this week because of my recent pondering on obedience.  Obedience to Him is love and if we follow His commands it creates the environment of love to those around us. And one of His commands is to love.

I've often stopped and made sure that my attitude was one of love especially before getting up in front of a group of kids.  I have no idea how, but they have KNOWN if I'm being a phony that day!  If deep down I was only teaching them out of some sort of duty, they knew.  Same kids, same me, saying the same things with the same smile on my face, but if my attitude was off, they didn't respond.  

Adults know, too.  One thing that this culture has taught me is to take the time to be genuine.  The Metro is an interesting place because for semi extended periods you are in very close quarters with strangers.  To me it's just too long to not make some kind of effort to be personable to the other women in the women's section of the train.  But women here don't respond at all to the West's version of, "meet someone's eye for a second and briefly smile."  All you get is a blank, embarrassing stare in return.  

To provoke a smile you have to have the courage and take the time to meet someone's eye for a few seconds.  Then as you maintain eye contact you can begin to smile.  And if you hold that look you usually get a smile in return.  Sometimes it takes 15, 20, or even 30 seconds of baring the 'window of your soul,' but I've seen many weary faces transformed when the smile comes.  People want to be noticed and they want to be loved. 

Mother Teresa said, "The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread." I can't feed, clothe, or take away the pain of the masses in this city but I can show them love, especially the ladies at FS. 

"We can do no great things--only small things with great love."  

                           -Mother Teresa

"The small things add up.  They matter to the people who receive them. When you pour out love, you find J-sus, and others find Him, too."

                -from the book Take My Heart Oh G0d