John 15:12, 13  “This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (NLT)

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What is love? 

A simple internet search yields a million definitions, most of which are focused on feelings. A somewhat popular song from 1993 insists that love is meant to be painless. I’m pretty sure that is not the experience of anyone who has ever truly loved another. 

Jesus said real love goes the distance. It closes the gaps. It heals the hurts. It stands up. It embraces. It protects and defends. It releases without letting go. It sends without breaking connection. 

Ultimately, when necessary, in the right time and in the right way, it lays itself down in sacrifice for the beloved. 

Some gifts you can only give once. 

Some loving acts are never forgotten. 

Some are displayed for all to see. 

Some displays are too painful to view. 

Sometimes what we call love dies. 

Sometimes what we call love tears a hole that never heals.

Sometimes what we call love builds impenetrable barriers through which there is no going back. 

Real Love endures forever. 

Real Love heals from the other side.

Death was necessary once between Love and the Beloved. Love died and left every heart broken. Only Love could heal that wound. Love was sealed away. Love lay on the other side. Love was as silent as the grave. Love died that day in the most horrific way. Love lay covered and cold, removed and remote, dark and immobilized.

Once upon a time, a Greater Love was given full expression. 

Once upon a time, a Greater Love was received as only a hateful world could receive it. 

Once upon a time, Love’s heart was truly broken. 

Once upon a time, the Beloved felt the full weight of Love’s loss.

There are no songs equal to the loss of Love. 

There is no lament deeply felt enough to equal Love’s absence.

There is no world worth living in apart from Love’s presence. 

A Loveless world is as cold and as silent as the grave. 

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I will never think of Love the same way again.

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Our Father, your love is sacrificial. You gave all. There is nothing left to prove. Amen.