On Saturday I went to the Mount Pleasant cemetery. I know it seems like an odd place to go for a walk, but for some reason I've been wanting to do it for a while.
I tried to think of people I could go with but eventually I decided to invite the Lord. And I met Him there. I had two revelations on the walk - revelations of Love.
The first was that I've been created to love, it's what I enjoy doing.When I was seeing the boy I love(d) I experienced such Joy thinking of things I could do - ways to make him Happy.
I loved loving him.
the same was true of my time volunteering with babies. Loving is a skill that, though perfect, can always be improved upon, and ultimately it is the BEST state to be in. And it was then I realized that I want to love God this way. I want to lavish my love on Him. I'm not quite sure how best to do it, but I feel that in realizing my need I have come closer to Him.
The other revelation of love was two fold. In the cemetery I saw stones and stones marked with names. I saw mothers, daughters, sons, fathers, brothers, husbands, wives, sisters, pastors and friends. all missed. all loved. All remembered by a name carved in stone. A short story of their life - the span of years (Jan 15th 1869 - May24th 1920), and perhaps a short note on their kindness and generosity, and a verse of God's love. Perhaps a note on who they left behind. And the names of those who later joined them: widows buried next to their husbands 30 years later, entire families named on a single stone decades separating them. I know it's weird, but I felt as one sometimes feels when surrounded by families. I felt surrounded by love, at peace.
Each line spoke of love.
Each person that has stood and mourned or brought flowers or left lights, each is a testament of love.
And later I remembered this vs: Isaiah 49:16
"See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands."
God has engraved us in love. and unlike the words in stone which may last for a century or two and then fade, our names have been there before we were born, and will be there for eternity. So can we be next to Him for just as long. That is love.
