Happy Valentine’s Day

Ever feel out of shape?
like an outcast?
And your mentality just doesn’t fit?

Do you yearn for kindness and beauty but are instead plagued by sorrow and horror?

Have you ever considered how much easier life would be if people weren’t such horrible people?

I recall the words of the Mahatma, who said, “Strive to be the change you wish to see in the world.” If I want to be surrounded by kind, gracious, and lovely people, then I must be kind, and gracious, and lovely myself.

The other night I was reading poetry by candlelight. (How corny that looks when I see it in writing!) Robert Burns followed by Christina Rossetti, et al. Eventually I began reading “Birches” by Robert Frost. I had read this poem in my youth, but I didn’t remember any of it. This night, however, his words resonated with me. This poem recounts the boyhood pleasure of climbing slim birch trees until they bow under the weight and send the climber crashing gently to the earth once more. But near the end, just out of nowhere, he says,

Earth is the right place for LOVE;
I don’t know where it’s likely to go better.

These words seemed to glow off the page as all the other words faded into shadow. I have pondered these words for some time now. “Earth is the right place for LOVE.” Yes! Indeed, it is. “I don’t know where it’s likely to go better.” I don’t know where it’s needed more!

I asked myself, what does it mean to live in love? How can I be an instrument of love in this beautiful, muddled world? What does it mean to love my enemy? Can I really?

As I ponder these ideas I wonder, does anyone else think about these things? Do any of the people I pass each day ponder these ideas as I do? Does anyone care?

If there is a woman out there with whom this resonates? Please say so. I want to hear from you…