The Big 'L', ever been?

From Paul the apostle:

"If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.
If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing.
If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always "me first,"
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn't revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end."

One thing Paul doesn't mention is that love isn't always fair, and it can be very very painful. That it can be very lopsided.

Looking back at some of the people I love or tried to love, I came to a conclusion: I suck at loving people.

Paul never said that often times, people won't return the same amount of love to you... Yet, it happens. He never said that some will never understand how much you love them because you can't express it in a form that they will accept. He never said that some people will build walls around themselves to shield against incoming love. He never said that some people will dismiss you because you look or act a certain way. He never said that we tend to hurt the ones we love the most. He never said that the most unlovable people in this world are the ones that need the most love... And yet, it's true.

I find it strange that Paul didn't write that much about hate when he himself was the biggest hater for the first part of his life. Why didn't he mention how destructive hate can be? How preferences can lead to intolerance and ultimately hate? How simple disagreements can spawn a world war? I only go this far because the things I hate most about this world are the things I see in myself. "I can't change this world, I can only change myself." This was my mantra for a long time, but I've come to realize that I suck at changing myself too.

I actually wrote this post a long time ago, I just thought I would post it on a day where love is skewed and warped into chocolate and flowers. I think that if Paul were here today when he wrote that chapter, the beginning would go something like this:

"If I send flowers and candy only once a year on a designated day that everybody else did the same thing, then I do not love.
If I reserve a table for two and have a candle-lit dinner and be chivalrous to a tee, but only once a year, then I do not love.
If I make vows on a wedding day and do not keep them and decide to divorce when my marriage isn't going well, or I've lost 'that feeling', then I do not know what love is..."

Paul never said that I can't force anybody to love me back. But I can accept love from the most unexpected of places.

If you're going leave a comment to say how great I am at loving others and that I'm so cool blah blah blah... save it. Just bake me some cookies and I'll understand. OR, here are a number of other ways that you can show that you love me:

-Grill me a steak
-Treat me to wings
-Go to the movies with me
-Play frisbee with me
-Help me roll some sushi
-Wash my car
-Clean up my room
-Buy me a Golden Retriever
-Let me beat you in every video game
-Sing on my karaoke machine while I laugh at you
-Let me hold the remote
-Make me a sandwich
-Let me serve you pancakes (Game: blouses)
-Play spoons with me (and let me move the spoons on you)
-Spoon me (females only, as is, or whilst doing any of the above)
And lastly:

-Write me a letter that says how awesome I am...
and has your bank account # and PIN on it

DU it! DU it!