I LOVE IT!

How often have you heard the word "love" today? On the one had we NEVER hear it enough from those WE love. But on the other hand we hear it too much and that, I believe, is the problem.

I followed behind a couple, in their thirties and a little overweight, at a salad bar restaurant. Here is a summary of their conversation: "Ooooh. I love this kind of salad don't you? Don't you just love it. Here look! I love these, these are great, I love them on a salad. Didn't you just love that meal we had last night. Well, they have those corn and peas here that you can put on your salad because I KNOW you LOVE them. Ahhh, cucumbers, I love cucumbers AND I love these small tomatoes. Don't you just love them?" To each love comment the guy nodded his head and just said, "Love it!" every now and again.

Words are important and we denigrate words when we used them for other than their intended and MEANINGFUL purpose. Now we all know our idioms and we know the evolution of words like: "cool, far out, NICE, bad, etc." When I say I love my grandson it means something more than if I say I love sweet peas doesn't it? Shouldn't it? No wait, I REALLY love my grandson but I only love my vegetables.

The way to the heart is through the words of the mind and when we disengage our mind from our heart language we've lost something. We have lost to ability to express how we really feel. We end up having to define our words in order to get the emotion accross. "So when I say I love you I am saying that it is more than I love vegetables and more than my car but less than the Indianapolis Colts when they win the Superbowl."

Mindless love leads only to error and miscommunication. A mindless fervor in love leads to abuse and burnout. A mindless spiritual love leads to cultic error and emptiness. The way to engage the heart is through the mind. Words are the language of the mind, if you don't believe me trying silent reading without repeating the words on the page in your mind, you can't. Even though you are reading silently your mind HEARS the words you are reading. But if the words you hear have a diluted or lost meaning it will never "sink in" and you won't really hear it.
My father never told his kids he loved them when we were growing up. Only recently have I been able to say "I love you dad" on the phone to him as I get ready to hang up. At 50 years old I heard my say I love you for the first time. It went through my ear, through my mind and straight to my heart.

Say it, say it often and MEAN IT!