“How do I love you, let me count the ways…”
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight …
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
We study, search, and discuss how we can know for certain that there is a God and that He is real. Yet, in the end, we have to admit that the only way to know God best is through relationship. In this way, God shows us--through love how He cares. This friendship will be later confirmed with these words of Jesus: “Love one another as I have loved you.” With these words, God states clearly that it was His desire to be our friend--which has no bounds.
As we read in Genesis--the story of God’s love begins with Adam and Eve and the beautiful garden home He gave them. And further, in other Old Testament passages, we read about His love. For instance, in the the endless ways God helped the Israelites leave Egypt and find a new home in the Promised Land. God never gives up helping and caring for us. Even to the point of sending His Son to make our lives “whole” again after we messed it up.
In all these ways, God is saying over and over again “I love you” and I want you to succeed. God is always lifting us from pain and hurt, always pointing us anew--towards our big entrance day into heaven. That’s God’s goal “friends forever!” And this forever is eternity.
So all we have to do is to show God that we appreciate this “eternal” love by making our relationship with Him mutual. Simply love God back in the many ways He loves us. True, God doesn’t need our love, but He truly desires it.
The easiest way to love back is to see where or how God loves us right now. God is loving us daily through the many people doing all kinds of wonderful things we take for granted.
How about the paperboy who leaves the paper at our door at 5:30 a.m.? How about the smiling woman at the super market, who makes the potato salad “extra special,” because she knows you like it? Simple things, yes, but this is love!
Then there is the homeless man on the corner who says “good morning” with a big smile each day as you pass by. And there are countless other ordinary everyday people we take for granted, but who nonetheless gives our day a little “pizzazz” amidst the many frustrations and "slip ups." These are God’s various disguises giving us that much needed lift--at the right moment, because He knows that we need it to get through, and be happy.
Just as God made the garden for Adam and Even, God makes our part of creation work the same way. He gives us gifts from “our garden” to help us get through our day and be grateful to Him.
When we appreciate creation, its beauty and how it works through others, we are embracing God. It is the best way to show God we care, and the best way to build our relationship with God.
Again, as Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote:
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight …
God speaks these same words to us today and everyday, because He is always looking for ways to love us more. God is always counting the ways…Can we count our ways?
