February Zen

     I cannot let this month go by without addressing love in all its myriad  forms. The love of a parent for her child, the love between husbands and wives, sisters, brothers, lovers, friends. Even one that  dares to defy definition. Someone said by defining a relationship one limits its potential. Potential to help one evolve to a being of heightened consciousness. Assuming of course its potential is  first defined by  moral boundaries we set for ourselves. You ever notice the first four letters of the word evolve spells "love" backwards?

     My 7 year-old , wise one that he is, once told me we have two hearts... "one to keep us alive and another to hold the love."  The following day he added a third heart, he said "it's for the evil things we do... but it's a small one Mommy... and it keeps getting smaller the more we do good and love more."  We should listen to our children more is what I say. Through them God's love speaks to us.

      I am always amazed by unconditional love as I  experience it. A child's love is all-forgiving, bears no grudges and forgets in a heartbeat. A spouse's love is always there, in good times and in bad. A sister's love grows with you through the years. A parent's love you never outgrow and even when you think you have... it stays. And a friend? It's there when you need it and it's there when you don't.Why do some relationships take ages to cement and still  crack in places and others just gel in no time, jiggling along the bumps?

     Why ask why? Life will give us the experience we need to evolve in our here and  now. Just take it. And live it. With gratitude. For only in gratitude do we find happiness.

Faith. Hope. Love. And the greatest of these is love.